Malaysia on Tuesday backed the Philippines’ call for the settlement of the seven-week tense impasse over a disputed West Philippine Sea shoal on the basis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
It also called on other Southeast Asian claimants to help resolve the territorial conflict.
Such position was conveyed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to Vice President Jejomar Binay in a meeting at the government capital of Putrajaya.
European countries, Vietnam, and Australia have also called for Manila and Beijing to resolve the standoff at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal through UNCLOS while saying they do not take sides in the conflict.
UNCLOS, which was signed by at least 162 nations, including the Philippines and China, extends the territorial jurisdiction of coastal states by up to 200 nautical miles from its coastline.
The convention empowers the coastal states with the right to develop, explore and exploit resources within the mandated area, called exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It allows foreign ships to pass through a coastal state’s EEZ.
UNCLOS also offers several dispute-settle mechanisms that nations can avail of to resolve overlapping territorial claims.
"I conveyed to the Prime Minister our government's position on the dispute with China over Panatag Shoal and he supports our position that it should be resolved based on international law," Binay said in a statement from Malaysia.
"Both the Philippines and Malaysia agree that there needs to be a legal commitment to enter into a peaceful resolution of the dispute," he added.
According to Binay, Razak also wants all Southeast Asian claimant nations—the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei—to hold talks on how to resolve the impasse that started on April 10.
The Philippines and China both claim ownership to the shoal.
Each side has stationed vessels there since the standoff erupted when Chinese vessels prevented Philippine authorities from arresting Chinese fishermen allegedly poaching in the shoal which Manila said is well within its 200-nautical mile EEZ as provided by the UNCLOS.
China does not recognize the Philippines' claims, saying it was the first to discover the shoal in ancient times and have maps to back its assertions.
Beijing also claims the West Philippine Sea nearly in its entirety, including areas that overlap with the Philippines’ and other Asian nations’ territorial waters.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, China and Taiwan all have overlapping claims over the West Philippine Sea, an area teeming with rich marine life and said to be harboring vast oil and mineral deposits.-GMA News (May 30, 2012)
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