DE

TORRES, Ginalynn Marriel A.

Faculty of Civil Law 2B

Property
Atty. Lopez-Rosario

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA/WEST PHILIPPINE SEA DISPUTE


In the lecture of Justice Carpio, I was reintroduced to the facts of the dispute
between China and all the countries in the area of the South China Sea, including the
Philippines. I realized that their claim was beyond a set of islands in the West
Philippines Sea. It was a claim that no proof could substantiate. I have heard of
people fighting over a few meters of land but I have never thought that such a big
and rich country like China would go the distance to make up facts about their so-
called historical claims regarding the area.


The Chinese government used historical claims to be able to claim the
aforementioned areas in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea. It seemed as
though they do not care about the territory of other countries for as long as they got
what they wanted. They even resorted to the nine (9) -dash lines, which basically
encompassed every Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) inherent to the surrounding
countries. They have placed claim with the basis of maps that do not even extend to
the Scarborough Shoal. In reality, their expansion was one, which crept up slowly,
making claims little by little until the entire body of water was theirs. They have
harassed people to get what they want and it no longer suits our rights over what is
ours.


The Chinese government seized the Scarborough Shoal and started to reclaim
areas in the West Philippine Sea where they are building artificial islands that they
claim have territorial sea and airspace. They have violated our territory and have
gone against the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) where
they were also a signatory. They have ruined countless marine habitats for the
purpose of reclaiming the areas and building an island to house their jets, ships and
all other war artilleries. They have desecrated the habitat of many marine animals
even when no ruling over the maritime dispute has been made. China used force and
intimidation to secure the area. They must be sent back to where they should
belong, confined to their large mass of land and pollution. They should not be
allowed to do whatever they want.


The Chinese government crept slowly and delicately through this expansion
or invasion. They did not want to start a war and they did not want to arise the
suspicion of the ally countries of the surrounding countries like Malaysia, Indonesia,
Vietnam, etc. China agreed to the UNCLOS and by this they agreed to the
compromise that you would waive all your historic claims for the agreed 200
nautical miles. They ratified the UNCLOS and therefore they knew of this
compromise. They cannot just claim the entire South China Sea just because of the
historic rights they are trying to feed us. We all have a right to the waters of the
world; we peacefully entered into agreements so that we have fair use of our waters.
They cannot just show maps and print books or talk about dynasties that no longer
exist just so they can feed their greed.


China is a country that took greed beyond the seams. For a country that has
more than one billion people and a huge landmass they are not contented with what
they have. They should be put in their place and taught that they the to respect
boundaries.