Phillipines urges Malaysia to join case against China’s sea claims

The Phillipines has urged Malaysia and Vietnam to support its case before an international tribunal challenging China’s claims over islands in the South China Sea, a month after a Chinese coast guard ship drove away Filipino fishermen from the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

“We wish that Malaysia and Vietnam will join us… in our case or file their own cases,” Francis Jardeleza, the chief counsel for the Philippines government, told The Straits Times.

He also said that while it would not be fatal if Malaysia and Vietnam were not present at the tribunal hearing, it would still be useful if they were.

The Philippines has filed a suit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) to challenge China's claims over islands in the South China Sea, saying that the islands are within its jurisdiction.

According to The Straits Times, Jardeleza is set to file a 100-page memorial, a memorandum enumerating its argument, with Itlos on March 30. Protests filed by Malaysia and Vietnam in 2009 would also be included in the memorial. The tribunal is expected to announce its ruling in 2015.

Malaysia and Vietnam filed their protests after China introduced its nine-dash line, which laid claim to almost the whole of the South China Sea using historical precedents.

According to Jardeleza, the Philippines is contesting the nine-dash line before Itlos because it has no basis in law, The Straits Times reported.

Another contested area is the James Shoal, which China calls the Zengmu Reef. The small bank which is 80km off Sarawak has been claimed by Malaysia, China and Taiwan.

Beijing, however, considered those waters as its southernmost territory, the bottom of a looping nine-dash line on maps that comprise 90% of the 3.5 million sq km South China Sea.

Disputes over the potentially mineral-rich waters have also led to deepening divisions between Southeast Asia and China.

"It covers a wide swathe that extends more than 200 nautical miles from the nearest landmass in China," Jardeleza told The Straits Times.

"International maritime law stipulates that a state can claim waters up to 200 nautical miles from its coasts as its exclusive economic zone."

Jardeleza said the Philippines would file its memorial with Itlos regardless of the outcome of talks set in mid-March between China and Asean.

Asean members and China will meet in Singapore on March 18 to negotiate a code of conduct for the South China Sea.

China, however, refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings with Itlos, saying the Philippines's case had no legal grounds.

Any ruling from Itlos is expected to be rejected by China, said The Straits Times. – February 28, 2014.