Seychelle Denise J. Pulanco BSIE- D1A
Rivalry Over Spratly: A Dispute between Philippines And China
The Dispute Dispute between between Philippines Philippines and China over Spratly Spratly Island Island is still still ongoing today. Clashes of these countries has brought up to the higher level. Who should really own this Island? re there any sufficient clai!s for both of these countries to reign the land?
The Spratly Island is located in South China Sea" off coast Philippines and #alaysia. It has only $ s%uare &ilo!eters of land spread out in over $'("((( s%uare &ilo!e &ilo!eter terss of water water.. Though Though it !a&es !a&es constru constructi ction on of infras infrastru tructu cture re i!poss i!possibl iblee and uninhabitable" countries such as Philippines and China is arguing about clai!ing this island. This is because it is rich in !arine ecosyste!" gas and oil deposits" and its an ideal location for !ilitary strategies. ccording to )eology and #ineral *esources #inistry of the People+s *epublic of China ,P*C" it has been esti!ated that Spratly area holds /./ billion tons of oil and natural gas. While 0nited Stated 1nergy Infor!ation d!inistration esti!ated that it doesn+t hold any oil and there+s only (( billion cubic feet of natural gas e2ists in fields near it. Philippines also discovered oil near Spratly Islands and these supplied ' 3 of their countries" Petroleu! consu!ed. Spratly Island is also one of the world+s !ost productive area for co!!ercial fishing. The P*C predicted that it is worth one trillion dollars" dollars" co!bining fishing fishing and oil and gas resources. resources. Spratly Island is also one of the !ost busiest shipping lanes in the world" !any !an y ships passed there
to deliver goods !a&ing it worthy of co!!ercial shipping. Several historical" political and econo!ic reasons behind these countries+ territorial clai! over the Spratly Island !a&e it clash. Ideally" according to 4aw ,5(6" the Spratly Islands should go to the country that is !ost e%uipped and !ost %ualified to sustainably develop the islands7 resources and protect their diverse !arine ecosyste!s8 however" that is no s!all feat and none of the countries involved in this territorial dispute are &nown for their green technology.
9ust recently in news" there are sufficient evidences that China destroyed their / reefs in Spratly Island because of !assive recla!ation activities" which involves involved at least (( naval vessels and do:ens of aircraft" and during which thousands of shells and do:ens of !issiles and torpedoes were fired. The Philippines has filed its arbitration case to the 0nited ;ations Convention on the
es it is only / reefs but that could affect all !arine biodiversity. Why would we let such country to invade an Island when they+re only destroying it? Though they said that is was all lawful" reasonable and =ustified. In one article" they said that their activities would help in !ariti!e search and rescue" disaster prevention and !itigation" a!ong others. @ut in the other one I+ve read" they have been =ust constructing artificial islands for !ilitary use" conducting naval drills" and accosting civilian fishing vessels in the South China Sea for the past year and for their own cost.
The two countries" Philippines and China" have their own bac&ground in clai!ing this island. Aor the Philippines" it has been discovered way bac& #ay B' by To!as Clo!a. 4e is an owner of a Philippine fishing vessel and director of the Philippine #ariti!e Institute. It was said that he found the island" with no national flag and hu!an settle!ent" with his brother and crew while they were out of the south china sea. Then he clai!ed it as the alayaan Island" located and the fifth class !unicipality in the philippine province of palawan" situated within the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea. The People+s *epublic of China clai!s that is is a part of #ing Dynasty. Seeing that there were no proofs China discovered the Island first" I+! co!fortable to say that Spratly should be own by the Philippines. ccording to
China+s clai!ed over Spratly is based on their "nine- dotted line". The ;ine Dotted
none of them (the mare liberum principle promulgated by Grotius )." ccording to Philippine President @enigno %uino III" "Chinas !-dash line territorial claim oer the entire #outh China #ea is against international laws, particularly the $nited %ations Conention of the &aws of the #ea ($%C&'#)". This =ust proves that China+s first evidences or support to clai!ed Spratly is invalid" based on international laws.
nother reason why China clai!s Spratly is because of their !ilitary and power. Ghe world cannot allow a country, no matter how powerful, to claim an entire sea as its own nor should it allow coercion to be an acceptable dispute settlement mechanism, Del *osario told the /(th 0; )eneral sse!bly last Fct. 5. >es" we cant cover the fact the in ter!s of these" China has the upper hand over Spratly. Aor the!" because we are only a s!all Ailipino co!!unity and their civilian occupation is !ore effective than our !ilitary when it co!es to !aintaining sovereignty. @ut actually" their !ilitary and power could cause !ore trouble. There+s this news I read about China preparing a war over Spratly. This began when a Philippine warship stopped Chinese fishing vessels trespassing in waters clai!ed by the Philippines. Since they &now that they are stronger" they could begin a war against us. 4ow could they !aintain the Spratly+s sovereignty when they cant !aintain theirs to other country li&e our country? There+s also this news that there are argu!ents between China and !erica after those ru!ors. nd if necessarily China would begin a war to us" !erica would ta&e our side.
9ust last ugust " there+s this news about China+s ;ewspaper ad that contained an ancient poe!" which so!e view as a cryptic warning directed to the
Philippines. The title of the said article is Wang >i on the South China Sea issue at S1; *egional Aoru! China and defense analyst" 9ose Custodio" that the i!ages in the advertise!ent is a warning against the us and all the other countries they have alliances with in the past. 4owever" China denied that its a threat but to e2press the official position of the Chinese )overn!ent on the issue of the South China Sea. This could be a threat or not" but our country should really be prepared anyti!e.
9ust li&e the B- dotted line" there are no proofs that Clo!a really did discovered alayaan Island. @ut this I can prove that we should really Spratly. Fne" ideally" the Spratly Islands should go to the country that is !ost e%uipped and !ost %ualified to sustainably develop the islands+ resources and protect their diverse !arine ecosyste!. China is e%uipped. @ut are they %ualified to protect !arine biodiversity? So base fro! the / reefs incident" they dont. Fut of the five countries that were fighting over Spratly" Philippines is the only country that has the !ost success and e2perience with !aintaining !arine ecosyste!. Fur country has !ost (3 of the world+s !arine protected areas ,#P+s. #arine protected areas ,#P are protected areas of seas" oceans or large la&es. #Ps restrict hu!an activity for a conservation purpose" typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Since we have the (3 of the World+s #P" it+s safe to say that we can help Spratly+s in its biodiversity thus re!oving the disrupt in #arine life.
Second" in ter!s of location" Philippines is only 5(( nautical !iles e2clusive econo!ic :one - under international
resources" including energy production fro! water and wind. It stretches fro! the baseline out to 5(( nautical !iles ,n!i fro! its coast. In collo%uial usage" the ter! !ay include the continental shelf . The ter! does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 5(( n!i li!it. The difference between the territorial sea and the e2clusive econo!ic :one is that the first confers full sovereignty over the waters" whereas the second is !erely a sovereign right which refers to the coastal state+s rights below the surface of the sea. The surface waters" as can be seen in the !ap" are international waters. Philippine7s clai! is based !ainly on rticle / of the 0;C
There still so!e pending activities in order for Philippines to really own the Spratlys. The Philippines !ust sub!it to the Secretary )eneral of the 0nited ;ations the charts and other relevant infor!ation" including geodetic data" per!anently describing the outer li!its of its continental shelf. The Philippines is also re%uired to provide to the Co!!ission on the
the Continental Shelf ,C
With the the pro!ising features and great potential of the Spratly Islands" there is no doubt as to why there are a lot of countries who lay clai! on it. @eing a geographical celebrity" the island indeed has a lot of issues with regards to overlapping laws and conflicting clai!s. ;onetheless" the Spratly Islands still belongs to the Philippines since it is supported by history and international laws.
Bibliography
Spratly Islands. ,n.d.. *etrieved Fctober '" 5('" fro! https://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Spratly!Islands
Spratly Islands Dispute. "n.d.#. $etrie%ed &cto'er () *+1() ,ro https://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Spratly!Islands!dispute
hen) B. "*+1) June 0#. he Philippines and Spratly Islands: A 2osin Battle "J. 3aw) Ed.#. $etrie%ed &cto'er 11) *+1() ,ro http://'los.scienti,icaerican.co/e4peditions/the-philippines-and-spratlyislands-a-losin-'attle/
he $eal &wner &, Spratly. "n.d.#. $etrie%ed &cto'er 5) *+1() ,ro http://a6erworks.'lospot.co/*+11/+0/real-owner-o,-spratly-island.htl #angosing" A. ,5('" 9uly 5B. 9ustice Carpio China destroyed / reefs in Spratlys. *etrieved Fctober " 5('" fro! http://lo'alnation.in7uirer.net/1*58+/9usticecarpio-china-destroyed-18-ree,s-in-spratlys
Brao) P. "*+1() &cto'er (#. Philippines tells hina: o country can clai an entire sea. $etrie%ed &cto'er 8) *+1() ,ro http://www.philstar.co/headlines/*+1(/1+/+8/1(+;+1/philippines-tells-china-nocountry-can-clai-entire-sea
ie66i) S. "*+10) April 1#. he Philippines< =2&S lai and the P$ Battle Aainst hina. $etrie%ed &cto'er 8) *+1() ,ro http://thediploat.co/*+10/+0/the-philippines-unclos-clai-and-the-pr-'attleaainst-china/ 2lanos) . "*+1() June *+#. he Philippine lai &%er the Spratly >roup o, Islands. $etrie%ed &cto'er 5) *+1() ,ro http://'sot1'.'lospot.co/*+1(/+5/thephilippine-clai-o%er-spratly-roup.htl 2aura) >. "n.d.#. Philippines< ownership to Spratly Island. $etrie%ed &cto'er 5) *+1() ,ro http://www.acadeia.edu/1?+;1/Philippines!ownership!to!Spratly!Island
