DFA: China’s ‘island-building’ can’t erase PH rights over reefs

CHINESE WARNING This screengrab from a video released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows a flare shot fired by theChinese military from Zamora (Subi) Reef while a Philippine aircraft was conducting a routine surveillance flight over theWest Philippine Sea on Sept. 7. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday rejected China’s claim of sovereignty over Panganiban (Mischief) Reef and Zamora (Subi) Reef, saying Beijing’s island-building cannot change the features’ legal status as low-tide elevations.

The DFA statement came a day after Chinese Embassy deputy spokesperson Guo Wei said China had sovereignty over the two reefs and their adjacent waters, and defended Chinese actions against a Philippine aircraft that flew near the features.

Rogelio Villanueva, DFA maritime affairs spokesperson, said the Philippines exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Panganiban and Zamora Reefs under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the 2016 arbitral award.

According to the DFA, Panganiban is a low-tide elevation within 370.4 kilometers (200 nautical miles) of the Philippines’ archipelagic baselines, placing it within the country’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

It said Zamora is also a low-tide elevation but is located within 22.22 km (12 nautical miles) off Pag-asa (Thitu) Island and its cays, placing it within the island’s territorial sea and therefore under Philippine sovereignty.

“As low-tide elevations, the Philippines exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the features, and these can neither be the subject of a sovereignty claim nor capable of appropriation under international law,” the DFA said in a statement.

It said Panganiban Reef, as a low-tide elevation, is not land territory that can be the subject of a sovereignty claim or appropriation under international law. Zamora Reef, being within Pag-asa’s territorial sea, remains subject to Philippine sovereignty, it added.

China’s island-building on both features, the DFA said, violates the Philippine Maritime Zones Act (Republic Act No. 12064) and Unclos, noting that the construction of artificial islands does not alter the legal status of the two features as low-tide elevations.

Villanueva said the DFA reserves the right to take appropriate diplomatic action once it receives the official report from Philippine security agencies.

Guo, in his earlier statement, said China had “sovereignty over the Nansha Islands,” including Mischief and Subi Reefs, as well as their adjacent waters.

He also accused a Philippine aircraft of entering, without authorization, the airspace near Chinese-held features, saying it had infringed on China’s sovereignty and threatened the safety of its personnel stationed there.

China said it took necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and security, and described its operations as “professional, restrained and standardized.”

The statement also followed a report by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) that Chinese forces had fired flares at a Philippine aircraft conducting a routine surveillance flight over the West Philippine Sea.

According to the PCG, Chinese forces at Zamora Reef first challenged the Philippine aircraft by radio before firing flares toward it. Chinese forces at Panganiban Reef also fired flares at the aircraft.

The two reefs are among the features in the Spratly Islands occupied and developed by China. Beijing has reclaimed land on both reefs and built artificial islands and military facilities there.

An international arbitral tribunal in 2016 ruled that Mischief Reef and Subi Reef are low-tide elevations that cannot be appropriated as territory.

The tribunal also found that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within areas beyond the maritime zones allowed under Unclos.

Beijing has rejected the 2016 ruling and continues to assert its sweeping claims over the South China Sea.

The DFA called on China to “cease its illegal occupation and activities” in Panganiban and Zamora Reefs immediately.

“The Department will continue to assert the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, and champion the Philippines’ legitimate rights and interests in the maritime domain,” Villanueva said.