"One of the biggest points of contention when discussing territorial disputes in the South China Sea is what to call the expanse of water in the first place.
Internationally, it’s mostly known as the South China Sea. But the Philippines calls it the West Philippine Sea, while Vietnam refers to the East Sea. China calls it the South Sea in Chinese, and the South China Sea in English.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, however, opted to call it “this sea known by many names” in remarks Wednesday to other Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders in Brunei. In case no one was clear on what he meant, he added a geographic descriptor placing it “west of the Philippines, east of Vietnam, north of Malaysia, south of China.”
In the context of the prickly debates between ASEAN members and China over who has sovereignty over the waters, Mr. Aquino’s wording might seem like a fudge designed not to ruffle too many feathers. The South China Sea is claimed in whole or in part by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, and the dispute over sovereignty has become increasingly heated in recent years. Vietnam has complained that Chinese fishing vessels are interfering with oil exploration in its waters, while the Philippines is angered by a growing Chinese presence at Scarborough Shoal, which it claims as part of its territory.
“Our development as a region cannot be realized in an international environment where the rule of law does not exist,” Mr. Aquino said, according to a transcript of his remarks released by the Philippine government. “This sea known by many names, a problem now, presents an opportunity for ASEAN and all other parties to collectively exercise the observance of the rule of law.”
The difficulty as far as Beijing is concerned, however, is that the Philippines isn’t confining the dispute to ASEAN’s discussions with China, but is also seeking a ruling from the United Nations on the legality of China’s claim to the sea.
The Philippines launched its petition declaring China’s claims invalid in January under the U.N.’s Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides for exclusive economic zones stretching to 200 nautical miles from a country’s territorial waters. China, though, disputes the U.N. arbitrators’ rights to rule on the Philippines’ claim and is refusing to cooperate in the process.
Since then, the relationship between the Philippines and China has grown testier. In September, the Philippines said China had asked Mr. Aquino not to attend an ASEAN-China trade exposition in Nanning, after the Philippines refused to comply with unstated Chinese stipulations, widely speculated to have been a demand for Manila to withdraw its action at the U.N".
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Source: The Wall Street Journal
