India also expresses concern over Beijing’s redrawn land borders
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — three members of the 10-strong Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) — have formally disputed a new Chinese map that claims most of the South China Sea as Chinese territory.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended the new map, referring to it as a “routine practice in China’s exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law”.
“We hope relevant sides can stay objective and calm, and refrain from overinterpreting the issue,” Wang said.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it rejects the map issued last Monday by Beijing’s Ministry of Natural Resources.
The new map features a 10-dash line that includes the eastern parts of the disputed South China Sea that fall within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which the Manila administration calls the West Philippine Sea.
“The [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos)] 2016 arbitral award invalidated the nine-dash line. It categorically stated that ‘maritime areas of the South China Sea encompassed by the relevant part of the nine-dash line are contrary to the convention and without lawful effect to the extent that they exceed the geographic and substantive limits of China’s maritime entitlements under the Convention’,” the DFA in a statement said.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Friday vowed to continue defending the country’s territory after China released the 2023 map that features a new 10-dash line that defines its boundaries in the West Philippine Sea.
“We of course will continue to defend our territorial sovereignty, our territorial rights. We have not changed our approach. It is other countries around us that have changed their approach… the nine-dash line has been extended to the 10-dash line,” Marcos said.
“We have to respond to all of these and we will, but… these are operational details that I would prefer not to talk about.”
China’s new map also overlaps with Malaysia’s hydrocarbon-rich EEZ off the coasts of Sabah and Sarawak, which prompted the Kuala Lumpur government to file a formal diplomatic protest.
“Malaysia does not recognise China’s claims in the South China Sea, as outlined in the China Standard Map 2023 Edition, which covers Malaysia’s maritime area,” Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said.
The Malaysian government described the South China Sea issue as “complex and sensitive”, adding that the dispute must be “handled peacefully and rationally through dialogue” based on international law.
The Kuala Lumpur government added it supported the creation of a code of conduct for the disputed waters, as well the goal of finalising the code as early as possible.
The new map’s depiction of the South China Sea includes the expansive nine-dash line, with a 10th dash added to the east of the island of Taiwan. Reuters reported that the new standard map contains a wider version of the Chinese claim than the map that Beijing had submitted to the United Nations back in 2009.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement that the sovereignty and maritime claims outlined on the map, in particular, the inclusion of the Paracel and Spratly island chains, were “invalid”.
Spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said that the claims had “violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, as well as its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its waters as stipulated in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”.
Vietnam, she added, “resolutely rejects any claims in the East Sea by China that are based on the dashed line”.
Against this backdrop, Vietnamese fisherman claimed a Chinese vessel last week attacked and injured them with a high-pressure water cannon in the South China Sea.
India has also publicly reacted, lodging “a strong protest” to Beijing’s new map, which shows regions in the Northeast India state of Arunachal Pradesh as being part of China. Some within the Beijing administration are understood to refer to the disputed state of Arunachal Pradesh as “South Tibet”.
“The competent authorities of China regularly update and release various types of standard maps every year,” Wang told reporters in Beijing.
“We hope that relevant parties can view this in an objective and rational manner,” he said, apparently attempting to downplay the issue.
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea while Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan individually also claim parts of the maritime waters.
Indonesia this week is set to host the 43rd Asean ministers’ summit and related meetings, including the 18th East Asia Summit on 7 September. China’s new map is expected to be on the agenda — or at least discussed behind the scenes – but it remains to be seen whether Asean will issue a joint statement or decide on any joint action.
Source : Up Stream
