Friday, 27/06/2014 15:54 (GMT+7)
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Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose. (Source: Internet) |
The Philippines’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 26th criticised China’s publication of a new map that covers nearly all waters and islands in the East Sea, affirming that it seriously violates international law.
This act of China is completely unacceptable as it runs counter to international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to which China is a party, the ministry said in its statement.
The ministry’s spokesman Charles Jose described China's “ambitious expansionism” as the reason for the current tensions in the East Sea . The official asserted that territorial and maritime disputes must be resolved at an international arbitral court.
The new map, published by the Hunan publishing house on June 23, includes almost all waters and islands in the East Sea in the so-called “sovereignty” claimed by China, seriously violating the sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction of coastal states in the East Sea.
Last year, the Philippines submitted a 4,000-page document to an international arbitral tribunal protesting against China ’s sovereignty claim over nearly the entire East Sea . The tribunal urged China to present its official counter-arguments before December 15th./.