Intimidation

THE world is alarmed by China’s recent activities. Reports are continually revealing that the economic giant has been aggressively claiming the disputed South China Sea.
President Benigno Aquino III warned that the ongoing reclamation and construction activities of China in the disputed territories may have damaging effects on the international trade. Seven of the world’s most industrialized countries — comprising the G7 — heeded this warning.
“We strongly oppose any attempt to assert territorial or maritime claims through the use of intimidation, coercion, or force,” Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States declared in a joint statement.
Last week, Aquino said that “the question of it (the tension in the Southeast Asia region) escalating to something beyond everybody’s control should be at the top of the minds of all world leaders.” The Philippine president made the statement after new images of the construction activities of China in the contested waters seemed like a construction of airstrips that might be used in military expansion of the Asian superpower.
“We and other countries, as well as the United States, are expressing concern regarding this and we’re calling the attention of China regarding their activities. We aren’t only ones keeping an eye out, nor just the countries with maritime entitlements,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.
“Many other countries are expressing concern. And in the field of foreign affairs and diplomacy, having many voices is one way of showing the position of the majority,” he added.
China’s aggressive construction activities in the would not only affect the trade industry but also the ecosystem in the area.
The actual location of the reclamation is abundant of marine life. Philippine authorities fear that the destruction of the 300 acres of coral reef systems in the area may lead to an estimated $100 million in annual economic losses in coastal states.
China knows that many fishermen from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan—who also claim parts of the sea—depend on the marine life found in the South China Sea.
Constructing a military base, while the Philippines is attempting to resolve the territorial spat through the international court, only escalates the tension and lengthens the dispute.
There is no doubt that the Philippines is outmatched by China’s military presence– thus, it must resort to resolvivng the matter through international arbitration. Such legal matters deserve legal settlement, not intimidation, coercion or force.
“We call on all stats to pursue the peaceful management or settlement of maritime disputes in accordance with international law, including through internationally recognized legal dispute settlement mechanisms, and to full implement any decisions rendered by the relevant courts and tribunals which are binding on them,” the G7 statement further said.
(AJPress)