Friday, December 14, 2012

Having the nine-dash map on Google won't validate China's claim - DFA spokesman


Having it on Google doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. 

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raul Hernandez said that even if China’s nine-dash map is on Google, its claim over disputed territories in South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) “will not gain any validity."

"Putting the nine-dash line on Google map does not change the fact that the nine-dash line claim is contrary to the international law particularly Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]," Hernandez said on Friday in a text message to reporters when asked to react on China's latest move in asserting its sovereignty in the disputed sea.

“Such act will not gain any validity for China,” added Hernandez.

The Philippines and other claimant countries, including Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan have overlapping claims to the West Philippine Sea, which China is claiming entirely.

Due to the map issued by Google, the Vietnam-based Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation has circulated a petition requesting Google Inc. executive chairman Eric Schmidt, CEO Larry Page, and co-founder Sergey Brin to remove the label "China" from Paracel and Spratly Islands and the nine-dotted line from the Google maps.

Google has already removed the said label but the nine-dotted line remains on its Chinese maps.-Interaksyon (December 14, 2012 9:22PM)

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