Читать книгу How Sentiment Matters in International Relations: China and the South China Sea Dispute - David Groten - Страница 38

Aside from those features (Table 14) that are actively occupied, the Republic of the Philippines’ general claims extends to both Scarborough Shoal and a grouping of 50 features (part of Spratlys) known as Kalayaan Islands (KIG). They are unrelated to Philippine archipelagic state status as they are located entirely outside archipelagic and territorial sea waters. Both groups of features, Scarborough Shoal and Kalayaan Islands, are located (as confirmed by the Arbitral Tribunal¹⁰⁷) within the Philippine 200 EEZ, which, yet, does not provide the country with any territorial sovereignty over land features¹⁰⁸.

Table 5: Features claimed/occupied by the Philippines

Spratlys (occupied)	Paracels (occupied)	Claimed
Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal		Scarborough Shoal
Balagatas or Irving Reef		(claimed by several
Kota or Loaita Island		parties, controlled by
Lawak or Nanshan Island		the PRC since 2012)
Likas or West York Island
Melchora Aquino or Loaita Cay
Pag-asa or Thitu Island
Panata or Lamkian Cay
Parola or Northeast Cay
Patag or Flat Island
Rizal or Commodore Reef

Source: Own representation

The United States officially recognized Philippine independence in 1946. As a result, all territory (land and waters) that had previously been ceded to the [81] United States after the Spanish-American War as stipulated by the Treaty of Paris¹⁰⁹, was transferred to the Republic of the Philippines without objections by an attendant¹¹⁰. Consecutively, in several pieces of legislation, the government in Manila further specified its territorial claims, thereby partly neglecting the boundaries originally determined by the Treaty of Paris. That said, it drew 80 (Republic Act. No 3046, 1961) straight baselines to specify the Philippine archipelago. Based on this model, Manila started to officially consider all waters inside these baselines as its internal waters and all waters between the baselines and the border as provided by the Treaty of Paris as territorial sea. Republic Act. No 3046 was criticized by several states including the U.S. as excessive (Roach & Smith, 2012), particularly on the issues of freedom of navigation and archipelagic innocent passage.

Moreover, the Philippine archipelagic baseline claim was set out by Republic Act No. 3046 (Philippine Gvt., 1961). The latter was subsequently amended by Republic Act No. 5446 (1968). In addition, by means of Presidential Proclamation No. 370 (March 20, 1968) Manila exerted its claim to control over natural resources in and jurisdiction of its continental shelf for the first time. Accordingly, a 200 nm EEZ was established by Presidential Decree No. 1599 (Philippine Gvt., 1978). Subsequently, the Philippines ratified the UNCLOS Convention in 1984. Moreover, in 1994, a 200 nm continental shelf (as measured from the archipelagic baselines) was established. In 2009, Manila passed Republic Act No. 9522 (Philippine Gvt., 2009a), which marginally adjusted previous archipelagic baselines to conform with the technical rules and regulations provided by UNCLOS, yet without significantly deviating from its previous claims in excess of the Treaty of Paris. In the same year, Manila submitted its claims for an extended continental shelf to the CLC. As a result thereof, the country was granted a total continental shelf of 350 nm in the Benham Rise area by the CLS in 2012.

To be sure, Kalayaan Islands and Scarborough Shoal¹¹¹, both at the heart of the Philippines v. China arbitration case (2013–2016), were not covered by the [82] Treaty of Paris or by previous legislation on the Philippine archipelagic baseline. Therefore, its claims to both groups of maritime features are referred to as extra-archipelagic claims. According to the official Philippine point of view on this issue, there are no maritime features in SCS waters that are simultaneously claimed by both China and the Philippines (e.g. Mischief Reef, Second Thomas Shoal, Subi Reef) and qualify as islands within the meaning of Art. 121 (1) UNCLOS. Thus, none of these features are said to generate any Chinese entitlement to an EEZ or continental shelf in the area. Therefore, all contested maritime features are said to fall within the Philippines’ EEZ given its archipelagic state status¹¹² and its extended continental shelf. Finally, it can be concluded that the Philippines are among the most proactive claimant parties. It regularly engaged in joint efforts and measures with Vietnam in order to safeguard its SCS claims more effectively. This has generated severe tensions with the government in Beijing, along with the special nature of U.S.-Philippine ties and cooperation initiatives (chapter 4.2.1).