FOREIGN ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) criticized China for firing water cannon on a Philippine supply ship in the West Philippine Sea.
This is the first time that the G7 made specific reference to China’s use of water cannon, alluding to the China Coast Guard and militia’s latest action against the Philippine supply boat near Ayungin Shoal. (see related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/03/23/china-fires-water-cannon-anew-on-phl-rore-mission-to-ayungin-shoal-anew/)
Manila immediately welcomed the G7 statement, while China’s state-owned daily Global Times derided G7 for projecting China to the world as a “bully.” G7 Statement on the South China SeaForeign ministers from the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union met in Capri, Italy, and discussed global issues including China. They said they are “seriously concerned” about the situation in both the East and South China Seas and “oppose China’s militarization, coercive and intimidation activities in the South China Sea.”
“We continue to oppose China’s dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries’ high seas freedom of navigation and we express serious concern about the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippines vessels in this regard,” the G7 ministers said in a joint statement issued Saturday (Philippine time).
The G7 is a forum composed of the seven most advanced democracies in the world, plus the EU — the largest trading bloc comprising 27 member-states. For the past few years, G7 ministers have expressed concern about China’s dangerous maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea. Last Saturday, the G7 reiterated that the Arbitration Tribunal decision on the South China Sea in 2016 is “legally binding.”
“There is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea. “We reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on July 12, 2016, is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties,” it said.
Ministers also “re-emphasized the universal and unified character” of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), the so-called bible of the seas. UNCLOS has an “important role” in setting out the legal framework for “all activities in the oceans and the seas,” it stressed.
Philippines welcomes G7 support
“We appreciate the G7’s support in rejecting China’s baseless and expansive claims, and their call for China to cease its illegal activities, particularly its use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea that engage in dangerous maneuvers and the use of water cannons against Philippine vessels,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.
The DFA also said they “duly note and appreciate the G7’s reaffirmation” that the 2016 Arbitral Award is a “significant milestone and a useful basis” in peacefully managing the dispute of claimants in the South China Sea. The Award invalidated the claim of China over the South China Sea using maps showing a nine-dash and U-shaped boundary line around the entire South China Sea.
Although a signatory to UNCLOS, China never participated during the arbitration proceedings in The Hague and has been junking the Award as “illegal, null and void.” “We want to see (a) South China Sea of peace, stability and prosperity, and the cessation of interference, obstruction and harassment of the Philippines’ legal activities within our recognized maritime entitlements,” the DFA added.
The DFA also welcomed the reiteration of the G7 commitment to the rule of law and to the UNCLOS as an anchor to rules-based maritime order.