Philippines to work with Vietnam on maritime issues, says DFA
THE PHILIPPINES on Thursday said it is ready to work with Vietnam on maritime issues in the South China Sea after Hanoi filed a claim to an extended continental shelf before the United Nations (UN).
“We acknowledge Vietnam’s right as a coastal state like the Philippines to submit information to establish the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the relevant and lawful baselines from which its territorial sea is measured, as provided for under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.
Manila is ready to find a “mutually beneficial solution to South China Sea issues” with Vietnam in accordance with international law, it added.
Vietnam Foreign Ministry in a separate statement said it was asserting its claim over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Vietnam filed the claim a month after the Philippines filed a similar claim before the UN.
China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.
It seized the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and forced Filipino fishermen to travel further for smaller catches.
A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 voided China’s claim over the waterway for being illegal. Beijing has largely ignored the ruling and continued its island-building activities.
About $3 trillion worth of trade passes through the South China Sea annually, and it is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits, apart from fish stocks.
Last month, the Philippines filed an extended continental shelf claim with the UN covering up to 350 nautical miles off the western island of Palawan.
The Philippines and China have agreed to set up new lines of communication to improve their handling of sea disputes after both countries resumed talks on easing tensions in the South China Sea. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
