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Showing posts from May, 2012

How to deal with China on disputed seas

As the tension between the Philippine and Chinese militaries escalate in the Scarborough (Panatag Shoal in Philippines ), the Philippines , due to its economic standing and seemingly looking like a blip on the map (even in academic discussions), looks like an orphan. The Chinese government, as I have written on this blog site several times, has been using its controlled media to say that they have valid historical claims to the disputed shoal even if its 1,200 nautical miles away from the nearest land mass of China as opposed to the less than 200 nautical miles of the Philippines. But sheer analogy, if this is valid, the Italians can claim that the countries where the Roman Empire set foot in are theirs. Chinese naval warship (Photo by Rajesh Jantilal/AFP) The shoal being included in its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, the Philippines has more rights over the shoal and it has more leverage if this is resolved using the UN Convention on the Laws of the Seas (UNCLO...