US Senators Support Philippines in Spratly Islands Dispute

Four U.S. senators visiting Manila have been discussing the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) territorial dispute and touting their support for the Philippines.

Arizona Senator John McCain reiterated the U.S. stance that there is no need to have any sort of confrontation with China over issues related to the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).  But he also said it is important to strengthen U.S. ties with the Philippines.

"We think that it's important for us and other ASEAN nations as well as the Philippines to emphasize that we will do whatever we need to do in order to protect the principle of freedom of navigation, particularly in the West Philippine Sea," McCain said.

McCain and the other senators used the preferred local name when referring to the disputed sea, which has some of the world's most heavily traveled sea lanes. The region is believed to have vast oil and gas reserves and also provides abundant fishing.  China says it owns practically the entire sea based on a centuries-old map. But the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to part or all of the sea.

Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  He says keeping peace and order means always being ready for war.

"China has made claims over the West Philippine Sea - the South China Sea - that I don't accept and I know the Philippine government doesn't accept," said Lieberman. "The question is how do we reconcile those differences? I think we have a better chance of reconciling them peacefully, as Senator McCain says, if we both strengthen the Philippine military and we continue, and I hope even expand, our presence here on the waters here."

Lieberman pointed to the installation in the Philippines in August of a used American Hamilton-class cutter that is now the country's largest military ship. The Philippines is expected to take possession of another one this year and two more in the future. The BRP Gregorio del Pilar patrols waters along a natural gas drilling project in the West Philippines Sea.

China has expressed displeasure numerous times about U.S. input on the disputes in the Spratly Islands of the Philippines, such as vocal support for multilateral talks among claimant countries. China continues to emphasize one-on-one talks with each party.

2^nd week of January 2012, the Philippines protested what it calls intrusions in mid-December 2011 by Chinese vessels and a military ship into waters it says were well within the country's exclusive economic zone. The United Nations designates an exclusive economic zone as a 370 kilometer or 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone (UNCLOS) area beyond a country's coastline. China extended its claim more up to the seas in Malaysia for more than 1000 Miles called the protest of the Philippines as baseless as their claimed that "they owned everything".

Last year, the Philippines cited about nine instances of alleged Chinese intrusions into its waters. One allegation accused Chinese boats of harassing an oil exploration ship. China has repeatedly said there were no intrusions.

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Philippines reiterates call ASEAN members to take a decisive stand on Spratlys issue

The Philippines reiterated anew its call on the other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a united and decisive role in the resolution of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) disputes by supporting its proposal that a meeting be held as soon as possible among the claimant states, including China, under the guidance of ASEAN.

"The Philippines calls on all ASEAN Member States to endorse this proposed claimant states' meeting, which the Philippines is ready to host. We would also welcome other ASEAN Member States to host this meeting if they would like to unequivocally express their support for and advance a rules-based approach in the region," Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in his statement at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) Retreat held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on January 11.

"The Philippines eagerly awaits ASEAN's response to this proposed meeting of claimant states," he added. The DFA chief also reiterated that a rules-based approach is the only legitimate way in addressing disputes in the West Philippine Sea and that the dispute settlement mechanism established in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the fundamental principle of the rules-based approach being espoused by the Philippines.

Del Rosario said the rules-based approach under UNCLOS also calls for the resolution of disputes through peaceful means, thus the Philippines proposed to ASEAN the Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship, and Cooperation (ZoPFF/C) as the actionable framework to clarify and segregate the disputed land features from the non-disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea, and in the process, address the issue of the 9-dash line.

The Philippines also has stated that it is considering third party adjudication, arbitration or conciliation, as appropriate, in the context of the dispute settlement mechanism of UNCLOS.

"Thus far, we are pleased that fellow ASEAN Member States support the rules-based approach, which essentially calls for:

(1) Solving the issue peacefully,

(2) In accordance with the rule of law, particularly international law and UNCLOS, and

(3) The multilateral participation of various stakeholders to account for the various perspectives and interests. These principles are the very bedrock of our international order. We have all furthermore agreed that we have to move forward with the Code of Conduct," Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario also stated that as the ASEAN is working on building the ASEAN Community, "it behooves Member States to now play a positive and meaningful role to solve the disputes peacefully in accordance with the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) and reach a stage whereby we are able to help resolve sensitive issues decisively without letting such issues fester and adversely affect the progress of our bilateral or multilateral relations."

He further noted that all are eager to move forward on the Code of Conduct to resolve the issues in the West Philippine Sea and the Philippines is ready to accept a Code of Conduct that calls for the primacy of international law, including UNCLOS, in resolving the disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

"It is ready to accept a Code of Conduct that espouses the concrete and actionable activities to foster cooperation in the West Philippine Sea in the context of international law," Del Rosario said.

He also stressed that the Philippines is willing to commit to a Code of Conduct that addresses the very core of the issue and that is to define, clarify, and segregate the disputed areas from the non-disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.

"I understand that these elements may require considerable focus to achieve our objective. As I have often expressed, ASEAN is at a critical juncture of playing a momentous role for the resolution of the disputes in the WPS/SCS. We must now muster the will as an ASEAN Community to face these sensitive issues with determination," he said.

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