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Chinese activity destroying South China Sea environment, experts tell tribunal
Roices Naguit, News5
November 27, 2015 9:51 AM
MANILA, Philippines -- Independent experts told the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration on Friday that Chinese activity in the South China Sea has been damaging and, unless checked, will continue to pose a serious threat to the marine environment of the vital waterway.
The experts testified on the third day of week-long hearings on the case the Philippines filed against China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which Manila also calls the West Philippine Sea.
China refuses to recognize the tribunal’s jurisdiction and participate in the proceedings in The Hague, The Netherlands.
One of the expert witnesses, Professor Clive Schofield, director of research at the Australian Center for Ocean Resource and Security at the University of Wollongong, presented his findings on 47 features that the tribunal had requested be studied to determine if they are insular, low tide, or high tide elevations, Malacanang deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte, who is with the Philippine team in The Hague, said in a bulletin.
He also presented satellite images showing Scarborough Shoal off Zambales at high and low tide. Scarborough, also called Bajo de Masinloc, sparked the current row after Chinese coast guard vessels began patrolling the area and driving off Filipino fishermen following the Philippine Navy’s apprehension of Chinese poachers in 2012.
The second expert, Professor Kent Carpenter, of the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, said China’s actions have caused grave harm to the environment in the South China Sea due to its artificial island building activities, and that the damage to the complex coral reef ecosystem is close to catastrophic.
“One of our advocates, Professor Alan E. Boyle, presented to the Tribunal the damage China has done to the marine ecosystem; more specifically, to the complex ecosystem of coral reefs, biological diversity, and living resources in the South China Sea,” Valte said.
Left unchecked, he said, “China’s activities will continue to pose a significant threat to the marine environment of the South China Sea and of all the states which border the sea,” Valte added.
Boyle also accused China of reneging on its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to protect and preserve the marine environment, citing instances of harmful fishing practices such as blast fishing, cyanide fishing, harvesting of giant clams, catching of turtles, and other endangered species.
He said China “is responsible for its failure to prevent its fishermen and vessels from engaging in illegal fishing activities,” Valte said.
He also detailed the series of near-collisions between Philippine and Chinese vessels in Scarborough Shoal from April to May 2012, which he said displayed China’s “deliberate disregard for international law” on the safety of maritime vessels.
Professor Bernard Oxman also told the tribunal of Chinese actions he said “aggravated and extended the dispute, even pending arbitration,” including preventing Philippine vessels from entering Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal to resupply a Marine detachment there, which he called part of “a deliberate policy to physically expel the Philippines and its nationals” from the disputed features and its surrounding waters.
The Philippines will continue its presentation to the tribunal on Monday.
Chinese activity destroying South China Sea environment, experts tell tribunal
Roices Naguit, News5
November 27, 2015 9:51 AM
MANILA, Philippines -- Independent experts told the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration on Friday that Chinese activity in the South China Sea has been damaging and, unless checked, will continue to pose a serious threat to the marine environment of the vital waterway.
The experts testified on the third day of week-long hearings on the case the Philippines filed against China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which Manila also calls the West Philippine Sea.
China refuses to recognize the tribunal’s jurisdiction and participate in the proceedings in The Hague, The Netherlands.
One of the expert witnesses, Professor Clive Schofield, director of research at the Australian Center for Ocean Resource and Security at the University of Wollongong, presented his findings on 47 features that the tribunal had requested be studied to determine if they are insular, low tide, or high tide elevations, Malacanang deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte, who is with the Philippine team in The Hague, said in a bulletin.
He also presented satellite images showing Scarborough Shoal off Zambales at high and low tide. Scarborough, also called Bajo de Masinloc, sparked the current row after Chinese coast guard vessels began patrolling the area and driving off Filipino fishermen following the Philippine Navy’s apprehension of Chinese poachers in 2012.
The second expert, Professor Kent Carpenter, of the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, said China’s actions have caused grave harm to the environment in the South China Sea due to its artificial island building activities, and that the damage to the complex coral reef ecosystem is close to catastrophic.
“One of our advocates, Professor Alan E. Boyle, presented to the Tribunal the damage China has done to the marine ecosystem; more specifically, to the complex ecosystem of coral reefs, biological diversity, and living resources in the South China Sea,” Valte said.
Left unchecked, he said, “China’s activities will continue to pose a significant threat to the marine environment of the South China Sea and of all the states which border the sea,” Valte added.
Boyle also accused China of reneging on its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to protect and preserve the marine environment, citing instances of harmful fishing practices such as blast fishing, cyanide fishing, harvesting of giant clams, catching of turtles, and other endangered species.
He said China “is responsible for its failure to prevent its fishermen and vessels from engaging in illegal fishing activities,” Valte said.
He also detailed the series of near-collisions between Philippine and Chinese vessels in Scarborough Shoal from April to May 2012, which he said displayed China’s “deliberate disregard for international law” on the safety of maritime vessels.
Professor Bernard Oxman also told the tribunal of Chinese actions he said “aggravated and extended the dispute, even pending arbitration,” including preventing Philippine vessels from entering Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal to resupply a Marine detachment there, which he called part of “a deliberate policy to physically expel the Philippines and its nationals” from the disputed features and its surrounding waters.
The Philippines will continue its presentation to the tribunal on Monday.
Chinese activity destroying South China Sea environment, experts tell tribunal
