EU reaffirms support for 2016 ruling amid SCS tensions

THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) is keen on bolstering ties with the Philippines in diplomatic efforts on a free and open waters in the Indo-Pacific region as it reaffirmed commitment to international law amid the Manila’s maritime dispute with Beijing, according to the European External Action Service (EEAS).

“What concerns us in Europe is we are very much committed to international law and specifically in this case the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” EEAS Managing Director for the Asia and the Pacific Niclas Kvarnström told a news briefing in Makati City.

“The best way to handle these situations is through diplomacy and so when you see aggressive behavior, and in our case, we stand fully behind UNCLOS and the ruling in 2016.”

China claims almost the entire South China Sea (SCS), a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China’s claims had no legal basis, a ruling Beijing rejects.

The EU is also looking at collaborating with the Southeast Asian nation on maritime routes awareness projects, cybersecurity, and digitalization.

Mr. Kvarnström said Manila has been working with the EU in its Critical Maritime Routes Indo-Pacific project, which installs devices on civilian or coast guard ships to boost maritime coordination and communication in the region.

“We feel that it’s one thing to have overlapping claims, but for us the central thing is to follow UNCLOS and international law,” he said.

“And when that isn’t being done or when tensions are being heightened, we will speak out, and that has been the case, we have done that against Chinese moves on several locations.”

China’s claims overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Manila and Beijing have repeatedly clashed in the waterway, accusing each other of aggressive behavior involving their ships and of damaging the marine environment.

US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay L. Carlson on Wednesday condemned China for firing water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard ships in Scarborough Shoal.

“The People’s Republic of China’s unlawful use of water cannons and dangerous maneuvers disrupted a Philippine maritime operation on Dec. 4, putting lives at risk,” she said in an X post.

“We condemn these actions and stand with our likeminded friends, partners, allies in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

China has controlled Scarborough, which falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but is also claimed by several other countries, since 2012 after maintaining constant coast guard presence there, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

“Any escalations, here you are talking about the Philippines, which of course has a Mutual Defense treaty… the two largest militaries (China and US) in the world, goes without saying that that’s dangerous to have escalation so we would not like to see that,” Mr. Kvarnström said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez