The political winds have indeed shifted.
On the same day that the China-friendly statement of this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, President Rodrigo Duterte, was released to media, Philippine and Chinese flags were seen raised on a Chinese warship, Chang Chun (DDG 150) that docked in Davao city pier.
This would have been unthinkable in the past administration.
These developments may cause some to be confused on the issues on South China Sea where we are contesting the almost all-encompassing claim of China. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also overlapping claims with China in the area.
On Thursday, May 4 at 5 p.m at Turf Room of the Manila Polo Club in Makati, Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio’s E-book, “Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea: The South China Sea Dispute” will be launched.
The 264-page E-book is a collation of over 140 lectures and speeches of Justice Carpio on the South China Sea dispute which he delivered in various fora in the Philippines and abroad. It’s a must read to remind ourselves of the basic issue of the South China Sea dispute.
There is no lack of ideas of turning South China Sea from an area of contention to a zone of cooperation. In many of his speeches, Carpio has mentioned converting Spratlys to an International Marine Peace Park.
He elaborates on it on page 224.
Excerpts : “The eggs and larvae of fish that spawn in the Spratlys are carried by currents to the coasts of China, Vietnam, Luzon, Palawan, Malaysia, Brunei, Natuna Islands, as well as the Sulu Sea. The Spratlys are the breeding ground of fish in the South China Sea.
http://www.intellasia.net/opinion-justice-carpios-e-book-on-south-china-sea-dispute-591609