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Chinas nine-dash line fails to meet UNCLOS

maritime features requirements

cannot sustain economic activity or humans on its

own, Jardeleza said.

You need land before you claim rights to the sea

PH solicitor general

The third type of maritime features called low tide

elevation are submerged rocks and reefs that are not
visible above water. This type of maritime feature is not
entitled to any territorial sea or EEZ.

Philippine Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza

MANILA, Philippines With a little over a month before the
Philippines submits its written arguments to the international
Permanent Court of Arbitration, Solicitor General Francis
Jardeleza publicly spoke for the first time about the basis of
the Philippines case against Chinas claim to nearly the entire
South China/ West Philippine Sea.
You need to have land before you can have rights to the sea.
Its as simple as that. You cannot just have rights to the sea
without owning land, Jardeleza said in a forum in the
University of the Philippines (UP) law center, citing the basic
principle of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS).
China, in 2009, submitted to the UN its nine-dash line
claim that covers the entire South China Sea, including parts
of the Philippines western seaboard from the provinces of
Ilocos Norte up to Palawan.
Chinas claim, however, has been repeatedly called invalid
and not in accordance with UNCLOS, which the Philippines
ratified in 1986 and China in 1996.

Maritime features
The UNCLOS states three different types of
maritime features that allow for the waters
surrounding a country to be claimed as part of its
territory.
The first are Islands defined as a naturally formed
area of land, surrounded by water and above water at
high tide, Jardeleza said.
Islands, such as Luzon, entitles the country that owns
it to a 12 nautical mile (approximately 22 kilometers)
territorial sea from the coastline with which it has full
sovereignty. A country can exclude foreign entities from
its territorial sea.
The island is also entitled to a 200 nm (approximately
370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which gives
the country the sole right to exploit the resources within
it such as fish and also mineral and oil reserves, if any.
The second are rocks or reefs that are mostly below
water but have rocky protrusions above water during
high tide. The important point under UNCLOS states
that a maritime feature is a rock if it cannot sustain
human habitation or economic life on its
own, Jardeleza said.
Such mostly submerged features are entitled to only a
12 nm territorial sea and no EEZ. Examples of such
are Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Panatag shoal or
Scarborough shoal, which lies 120 nm off the coast
of Zambales province.
The shoal is a submerged coral reef with a rocky
protrusion that is three meters above the water during
high tide. It cannot be classified as an island because it

Contested Island groups

There
are
two
island
groups, Paracel Islands
and Spratlys Islands, and one shoal, Scarborough, in South
China Sea/West Philippine Sea that are the subject of
maritime disputes between several countries.
The Paracel Islands is disputed by Vietnam and China only.
The Philippines has no interest in it because it is far from the
countrys EEZ.

Scarborough shoal off the coast of Zambales lies within

the Philippines (EEZ) but has been exclusively under
the control of the Chinese since the 2012 standoff.
The most controversial is the Spratly Group of Islands
that is claimed by China, Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Spratly Islands is composed of more than 140 maritime
features of which only 40 are above water some of the
time [and of that 40] only 20 are above water at high
tide, according toJardeleza.
The claim of the Philippines in the arbitration is that
none of the features occupied or controlled by China is
entitled to a 200 nm EEZ, he said.
You dont have to be a rocket scientist, the [nine-dash
line] claim violates UNCLOS. The most that China can
claim
should
only
be
200 nm outside
of Hainan, Jardeleza said.
Eight features under protest
The case submitted by the Philippines to the International
Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) concerns eight
maritime features that are currently under the control of
China.

The first four are low tide elevations that are completely
submerged:
Mischief
Reef,
which
is
130 nm from Palawan, Kennan Reef (180 nm), Gaven
Reef (205 nm) and Subi Reef (230nm).
These are all below water at high tide. Theyre not
entitled to anything. No territorial sea, no EEZ. But all of
these
four
are
physically
occupied
by
China, Jardeleza said.
China has constructed concrete structures on the reefs
including helicopter landing pads over the years since
1995 but that does not give them entitlements to the
seas around it.
The other four are rocks or reefs that are, at most,
entitled to only 12 nm. These are Scarborough shoal,
120 nm from
Luzon,
Johnson
reef
180(nm from Palawan),Cuarteron reef(240nm from Pal
awan) and Fiery Cross reef (255 nm from Palawan).

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The position of the Philippines is [Chinas] nine-dash
line is invalid. It violates UNCLOS. The four reefs that
are below water all the time are entitled to no rights and
the four are rocks which would only have 12 nautical
miles, Jardeleza said.
The Philippines' UNCLOS Claim and the PR Battle
Against China
Manila submitting its disputes with China to UNCLOS
arbitration is part of a larger battle for international
opinion.
By Shannon Tiezzi

As expected, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Albert del Rosario announced Sunday that the
Philippines has submitted a memorial seeking a ruling
on Chinas nine dash line from the Permanent Court
of Arbitration in The Hague. The Philippines seeks to
have Chinas claim to much of the South China Sea,
including several features within the Philippine
Exclusive Economic Zone, declared invalid under the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The case would
be the first time international legal experts formally
consider the validity of Chinas territorial claims in the
South China Sea.
According to Rosario, the memorial is nearly 4,000
pages in length, including Manilas analysis of
applicable laws, the specific relief sought by the
Philippines, and documentary evidence and maps
designed to back up Philippine claims. Rosario ended
his statement by saying:
With firm conviction, the ultimate purpose of the
Memorial is our national interest. It is about defending
what is legitimately ours. It is about securing our
childrens future. It is about guaranteeing freedom of
navigation for all nations. It is about helping to preserve
regional peace, security and stability. And finally, it is
about seeking not just any kind of resolution but a just
and durable solution grounded on International Law.
While there have been many reports on Chinas PR
battle against Japan, few have noticed that the
Philippines is also attempting to defend its territorial
dispute in the court of public opinion. The move to file a
request for arbitration in UNCLOS is part of this gambit.
Thus, Rosarios final statement on the arbitration, while
it acknowledges the paramount importance of the
Philippines national interest, also seeks to claim the
moral high ground by painting the case as a milestone
in regional security and international law. By filing such
a case, Manila not only hopes to win a favorable ruling,
but wants to paint itself as a positive force in the region.
Philippine leaders knew that China would not
participate in the arbitration process by submitting a
counter-claim, making a Philippine victory much more
likely. While such a ruling would do nothing to change
the situation on the ground, it would be a PR victory for
the Philippines, allowing Manila to claim its position is
internationally sanctioned. The PR aspect of the
arbitration claim is easily apparent from the Department
of Foreign Affairs Website, which prominently features
a link to a colorful newsletter on The West Philippine
Sea Arbitration. This document prominently features
quotes from international experts affirming the symbolic
and legal value of the arbitrationboth showcasing

previous PR gains and clearly hoping to sway more to

the Philippine point of view.
But the UNCLOS arbitration is only one part of the
Philippines strategy. There have also been more
pointed attempts to court international journalists.
Earlier this year, President Benigno Aquino held a 90minute interview with journalists in the Presidential
Palace. During the interview, he compared China to
World War II-era Germany, with the Philippines playing
the part of Czechoslovakia. Accordingly, he argued
against appeasing China by giving in to its territorial
demands. At what point do you say, Enough is
enough? Well, the world has to say it remember that
the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease
Hitler to prevent World War II, Aquino said.
The Philippines has made other outreaches to foreign
journalists, including involving them directly in a
confrontation over disputed territories. Reuters reported
that international media members were invited
aboard a Philippine ship transporting supplies to a
military outpost on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
After successfully avoiding the Chinese ships
blockading the shoal, the Philippine captain
told Reuters, If we didnt change direction, if we didnt
change course, then we would have collided with
them. Journalists also noted that, during the voyage,
aircraft from the U.S., the Philippines, and China all
flew above the Philippine boat. In addition to providing
a chance for the Philippine government to showcase its
claims, the inclusion of journalists may also have
prevented a stronger Chinese response to the
Philippine supply run.
China responded angrily to each of these gambits.
Most recently, in Mondays press conference, Hong
also decried the reporting trip to Second Thomas
Shoal as a deliberately schemed activity with the
purpose of further hyping up the issue of the Renai
Reef serving its attempt to illegally snatch the Renai
Reef which is Chinas territory. Hong added, China will
by no means allow the Philippine side to seize the
Renai Reef [Second Thomas Shoal] in any form, nor
will China allow it to build facilities on the Renai Reef in
defiance of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in
the South China Sea (DOC). The Philippine side will
have to take the consequences caused by its
provocative actions.
On Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei also
issued a special statement on the Philippine request for
arbitration. First, Hong reiterated Chinas position that
China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha
Islands [Spratly Islands] and their adjacent waters. No
matter how the Philippine memorial is packaged, Hong
said, the direct cause of the dispute between China
and the Philippines is the latters illegal occupation of
some of Chinas islands and reefs in the South China
Sea.
Hong also repeated Chinas opposition to international
arbitration over these issues, given Chinas preference
for direct negotiations with countries concerned. Hong
argued that, by submitting the case for arbitration, the
Philippines was in violation of previous agreements to
solve issues bilaterally, including the 2002 ASEAN
Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South
China Sea. China urges the Philippines to
comprehensively and effectively implement the
consensus repeatedly reaffirmed between the two
sides and the DOC, and return to the right track of

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settling the disputes through bilateral negotiations,
Hong concluded.
Despite Chinas opposition, the UNCLOS-based
arbitration will move forward, and could have an impact
on all other South China Sea disputes. For one thing,
the Philippines is seeking clarification on whether
partially-submerged features (such as the Scarborough
Shoal) can be used as the basis for a full EEZ (200

nautical miles) or only a territorial sea of 12 nautical

miles. Such answers could have important legal
ramifications for other claims in the South China Sea,
besides the Philippines-China disputes. However,
Rosario has said he does not expect a ruling on the
case before the end of 2015leaving plenty of time for
the PR war to continue.