Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippines counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., agreed to set up a special diplomatic channel to discuss their maritime issues related to the South China Sea (SCS), during a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.
AGREEMENT
According to a joint statement, both leaders emphasised that their long-standing maritime issues “do not comprise the sum-total” of their relations, and thus agreed to “appropriately manage differences through peaceful means.”
Pres #XiJinping and #Philippine Pres Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr held talks in Beijing ystd. The two nations have agreed to expand contributions to regional peace&stability and bring more benefits to the people of both countries, and signed a series of cooperation documents. pic.twitter.com/3a3k3iyHgq
— Ambassador Hou Yanqi (@China2ASEAN) January 5, 2023
Reaffirming the importance of “maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the region and the freedom of navigation in and overflight” above the SCS, Xi and Marcos Jr. agreed to peacefully resolve their disputes on the basis of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the UN Charter, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The leaders further agreed that “confidence-building measures would contribute to improving mutual trust.” To this end, they hailed the importance of the Foreign Ministry Consultations and the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea.
Additionally, both leaders decided to “establish a direct communication mechanism” between the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs and the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday affirmed to establish a “direct communication mechanism” to prevent possible miscommunication in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
— Presidential Communications Office (@pcogovph) January 5, 2023
READ: https://t.co/D29XH8vcRQ pic.twitter.com/7VL25kPo7v
Importantly, Beijing and Manila agreed to:
- Enhance practical cooperation between their coastguards
- Convene the 4th Meeting of the Joint Coast Guard Committee and the Annual Defence Security Talks
- Strengthen maritime cooperation in environmental protection and maritime economy
- Collaborate closely on the mitigation of marine debris and microplastics
SCS DISPUTE
China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads for years over the ownership of the uninhabited Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal, which are strategically important to both countries.
The areas have potentially significant, and largely unexplored, reserves of oil and natural gas. Further, the region is productive for fishing and among the busiest areas for commercial shipping traffic. China and the Philippines would get an extended continental shelf if their claims were recognised by the other.
and agricultural cooperation that include the so-called "durian protocol."
— Presidential Communications Office (@pcogovph) January 4, 2023
Read: https://t.co/J8KKmSuXYw pic.twitter.com/ZAUHX99cq1
In recent years, China has been significantly increasing its military presence on islands claimed by the Philippines.
Over the past few years, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has brought in advanced KQ-200 anti-submarine planes and KJ-500 early warning aircrafts to the disputed Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands chain, effectively declaring it as a part of its own territory.
Additionally, it has stationed maritime militia vessels for over a year around Thitu Island, which is the Philippines’ largest occupied island in the Spratly archipelago.
In turn, the Philippines military has also expanded its presence in the region to counter Chinese manoeuvres.
UNCLOS RULING
On July 12, 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal, instituted under Annex VII of the 1982 UNCLOS, issued a binding ruling on China’s claims against the Philippines in the SCS.
The panel ruled that China’s claims of “historic” rights within the nine-dash line, which Beijing uses to outline its claims in the disputed SCS, have no legal foundation. It also found that Beijing’s activities, such as illegal fishing and the construction of environmentally harmful artificial islands, had occurred within the Philippines’ two-hundred-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf, violating Manila’s sovereign rights. At the time, China dismissed the ruling as “nothing more than a piece of waste paper” and continued its aggressive provocations in the region.