International outlaw

As much as I want to refrain from criticizing China’s foreign policy, I feel I would be defaulting in my own little way if we let the bully destabilize the region because of aggressive action in the West Philippine Sea. Just because it’s more popularly known as the South China Sea does not give the Chinese the torrens title to claim the whole vast of water as theirs. India does not claim the Indian Ocean entirely its own just because it is named after the country.

China, on the other hand, keeps violating international law despite The Hague court ruling that Beijing has no legal basis for its sweeping claim of nearly the entire South China. That the Chinese continue their transgression on Philippine sovereign waters by deploying more ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Panatag) which is only 230 kilometers off Bajo de Masinloc in Zambales makes China an outlaw—it has no regard for international laws. Considering that Scarborough Shoal is 660 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest Chinese landmass, Scarborough/Panatag gives the Philippines more right to it because of proximity. Or at least make the disputed shoal within international waters under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea mandating a 200-mile economic zone for countries with coastal lines.

http://thestandard.com.ph/opinion/columns/back-channel-by-alejandro-del-rosario/215888/international-outlaw.html