South China Sea: Beijing urges UN not to consider Philippine request to extend continental shelf

China has formally urged a United Nations body not to consider a Philippine bid to extend the legal outer limits of its continental shelf in the disputed South China Sea.

In a diplomatic note last week, China called on the UN's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf not to review the submission, which aims to confirm the outer boundaries of its legal continental margin beyond the 200-nautical mile (370km) limit.

"[The Philippine claims] have seriously infringed China's sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea," the mission said in the note to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.

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"China has indisputable sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao [the South China Sea islands] and the adjacent waters, and enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters as well as the seabed and subsoil thereof.

"The Chinese government seriously requests the commission not to consider the submission by the Philippines."

China claims almost all of the South China Sea but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims to the waterway, a key global shipping hub.

The dispute has escalated into frequent, and sometimes violent, clashes between China and the Philippines over the past year, raising fears of conflict.

In 2016 an international tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines and said China's claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis, a decision Beijing refused to accept.

Earlier this month, the Philippines asked the UN commission to recognise that the outer limits of its continental margin extended beyond 200 nautical miles in the West Palawan region facing the South China Sea.

According to the executive summary of Manila's submission, made available last week, the new proposed limits cover the Palawan-Mindoro microcontinent.

It said that served as the basis for determining the "natural prolongation of the Palawan and Mindoro landmasses".

Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal state can gain exclusive rights to exploit natural resources on its continental shelf, including mineral resources, fish stocks and oil and gas reserves.

The Philippines noted that its submission may overlap with previous claims, including a joint submission by Malaysia and Vietnam in 2009, but it was willing to discuss maritime boundaries with them.

Maritime observers have suggested that the move is unlikely to succeed as the commission - which is mainly a scientific and technical body - cannot consider disputed claims unless all parties involved agree.

The commission deferred the 2009 joint proposal submitted by Vietnam and Malaysia for that reason.

China is so far the only country to object to the Philippine claim through a diplomatic note.

In 2012 the Philippines successfully extended its continental shelf off the Philippine Rise on its northeastern coast without opposition.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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