Philippines lead counsel Paul Reichler, complained to a United Nations’-backed arbitral tribunal that China has robbed the Philippines of its right to fish in the disputed West Philippine Sea.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abegail Valte said that at the start of the hearings on the merits of the Philippines’ case against china, “Mr. Reichler mentioned that china has asserted exclusive rights over the areas covered by the 9-dash line and has deprived the Philippines of fishing and exploration activities.”
The nine-dash line is the demarcation that china uses to claim virtually the entire South China Sea. The Philippines, on the other hand, asserts that large areas of the sea fall within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), within which it has the exclusive rights to fish and explore resources.
Reichler pointed out on Tuesday that china’s 9-dash line is baseless under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS the so-called constitution of the oceans. (Eagle News Service)
