Philippines suspends work on S China Sea military airstrip
6 Oct 2014 3:54 AM IST
The Philippines said on Saturday it has shelved planned improvements on a military airstrip in the disputed South China Sea to support its bid for a UN ruling against Beijing over the tense territorial row.
The Philippines infuriated China in March by asking a United Nations tribunal to declare Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea a violation of international law.
China claims almost all of the sea, a vital avenue for world trade that is also believed to harbour vast oil and gas reserves. But its claims overlap in parts with those of the Philippines, as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the government had suspended long-planned upgrade work on a military runway in the disputed Spratly islands to boost chances of a favourable ruling at the UN.
‘We wanted to maintain the moral high ground in light of the case we filed at the (UN) arbitration tribunal regarding the West Philippine Sea,’ Valte said, using the Filipino name for the area. ‘We chose... to ease tensions and avoid any incident that may be construed as ramping up tensions or trying to provoke any of the claimant countries,’ Valte said over government radio on Saturday.
The Philippines infuriated China in March by asking a United Nations tribunal to declare Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea a violation of international law.
China claims almost all of the sea, a vital avenue for world trade that is also believed to harbour vast oil and gas reserves. But its claims overlap in parts with those of the Philippines, as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the government had suspended long-planned upgrade work on a military runway in the disputed Spratly islands to boost chances of a favourable ruling at the UN.
‘We wanted to maintain the moral high ground in light of the case we filed at the (UN) arbitration tribunal regarding the West Philippine Sea,’ Valte said, using the Filipino name for the area. ‘We chose... to ease tensions and avoid any incident that may be construed as ramping up tensions or trying to provoke any of the claimant countries,’ Valte said over government radio on Saturday.
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