China is seeking Russian support in the disputed and increasingly volatile South China Sea, even though Russia is not a claimant in the body of water. However, it is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, as is China.
On Monday, China and Russia said that the South China Sea dispute should not be internationalized and called for its settlement based on negotiation and consultation, according to a report in China’s state-run media outlet Xinhua.
Of course, the problem with that joint statement is that to date China is not willing, nor will it be willing, to negotiate in the South China Sea unless other nations first consent to Beijing’s claim of historical ownership of the body of water.
On Tuesday, the drama continued. The Hong Kong-based The South China Morning Post reported that China is lobbying Russia for support in opposing international court proceedings launched by the Philippines over the South China Sea.
Philippines counters China’s claims
Long-time U.S. ally the Philippines filed a case against China in early 2013 with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague less than a year after China’s controversial seizure of Scarborough Shoal, only around 140 miles from the Philippines and well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
US Marines take positions after exiting an amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) during an amphibious landing exercise on a beach at San Antonio in Zambales province on April 21, 2015, as part of annual Philippine-US joint maneuvers some 220 kilometres (137 miles) east of the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The Philippines voiced alarm about Chinese ‘aggressiveness’ in disputed regional waters as it launched the giant war games with the US that were partly aimed as a warning shot to Beijing. Photo TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images)
The Philippines is asking to Court to rule on several items: Whether China’s so-called U-shaped line that encompasses more then 80% of the South China Sea is compatible with the UN’s Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), whether five of the eight features occupied by China should be considered submerged and therefore unable to generate a territorial sea or an EEZ, whether the remaining three features occupied by China are just rocks without a claim to an EEZ, and whether the Philippines is entitled to a full 200-nautical mile EEZ regardless of the existence of other occupied offshore features.
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