A spokesman for the Department of National Defense (DND) called for more international pressure to stop Chinese reclamation and construction activities in the South China Sea.
“That’s very important, that’s a very key factor also,” said DND spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez, noting that aside from the Philippines, United States, Japan, and Australia, the Group of 7 (G7) leaders and the Europen Union (EU) have also expressed opposition to China’s to coercion and reclamation activities at disputed territories in the South China Sea
“That should be enough for them (China) to realize that what they are doing is really contrary to international law. So we call on them (China), come on wake up to reality,” he added.
Galvez said that while the DND has yet to validate reports that China is about to complete the construction of its facilities at disputed portions of the South China Sea, their (Chinese) continued and aggressive action is creating a lot of speculations among nations having overlapping claims in the above-mentioned waterway.
“We have to validate that report first, but with regards to all the issues, let us no forget that the main issue here is that their 9-Line is very erroneous,” said the DND spokesman.
“Number two (Chinese build-up in the West Philippine Sea) is contrary to the DOC (2002 Declaration of Conduct between ASEAN and China which prohibits parties from constructing new facilities in disputed areas),” he added.
“And number three, the constructions are really alarming as we don’t know what they will be putting there,” Galvez further stated.
MANILA BULLETIN
