Del Rosario pushes talks on sea issue with China

Foreign Affairs Department Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Thursday said he has invited China Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Manila for a “full and constructive discussion on all issues” on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Del Rosario said that since he was appointed as Foreign Affairs chief in 2011, he has had no official visit from a Chinese Foreign Minister.

The invitation was made amid the country’s ongoing political conflict on territorial claims with Beijing and came on the heels of the reported “testy exchanges” between the two envoys during the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum held in Brunei.

“I indicated to him that perhaps, it’s timely for him to do this because I have been to Beijing three times since I became foreign minister [in 2011] and all throughout that time, we had no visit from a Chinese foreign minister,” he said.

When asked how Wang reacted to the invitation, Del Rosario said the Chinese envoy said that “he would think about it and will consider.”

During the 46th Asean Regional Forum in Bandar Seri Bagawan, Wang and Del Rosario reportedly had a “testy” conversation after the Chinese envoy accused the Philippines of making aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Del Rosario reportedly raised his hand to answer Wang’s accusations even if he was not supposed to respond to the Chinese envoy’s remarks.

The DFA chief did not deny the report, but refused to make any further comment on the incident.

“I will not deny what has been reported, but I feel there’s no need to add to it,” he said.

Del Rosario said that China has agreed to hold “consultations and not “negotiations”, in Beijing in September to discuss the “full and effective implementation of the DOC [Declaration on the Code of Conduct].”

In all, China and ASEAN’s top envoys are scheduled to have three meetings this year:  the first among ASEAN member-countries in Thailand; the second among ASEAN members and China in August and another ‘consultation’ meeting in September.

Thailand called for the first meeting to prepare the Asean for the August and September meeting in China.
“Our hope is that we can have a discussion on a way forward on the COC [Code of Conduct],” Del Rosario said.

The DFA chief added that he hopes that Beijing was sincere in starting consultations on the draft of a maritime code of conduct based on the non-binding but confidence-building DOC that was signed in 2002 by China and the Asean.

In the past, Beijing had repeatedly refused to agree on multilateral negotiations on the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

China had instead pushed for bilateral talks between China and claimant-countries, such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Vietnam and the Philippines had been the most vocal in criticizing China’s aggressive stance over the oil-rich territory.

Recently, however, Beijing and Hanoi had agreed to explore and share the resources on their disputed territories. Both countries even set up a hotline that would help prevent tensions between their fishermen.
The Philippines, on the other hand, still has a pending case against China before the arbitral tribunal under the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, but Beijing had rejected Manila’s decision to “internationalize” the issue.

Also yesterday, the DFA announced that the BRP Alcaraz, the second of two Hamilton-class cutters the Philippine government purchased from the United States, is slated to arrive on August 3.

The BRP Alcaraz (PF-16), and the BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15), which arrived in Philippine shores in August 2011, were acquired by the Philippines under the Excess Defense Article and Military Assistance Program.

The Alcaraz is named after Commodore Ramon Alcaraz, a Philippine Navy officer, who distinguished himself during the Second World War when the patrol boat he commanded reportedly shot down three Japanese aircrafts.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez meanwhile, denied reports that the Chinese vessels had left the Panatag Shoal.

Hernandez said that contrary to reports, Chinese vessels continue to intrude into Philippine maritime territories.

“They leave. They come back. They come back and forth. The intrusions are continuing,” said Hernandez, wo added that the Philippines remained steadfast in its stand that the shoal is part of Philippine territory.
“Our position remains the same that these areas are part of our national territory and China should respect that,” he said.

Hernandez made the statement following reports on Wednesday that a a senior security official had said that the Chinese vessels had sailed away from the Panatag Shoal.

source:  Malaya