PHL says Chinese deployment of aircraft carrier to South China threatens regional peace

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 27): PHL says Chinese deployment of aircraft carrier to South China threatens regional peace

The Philippines on Wednesday expressed alarm over China’s deployment of an aircraft carrier to the disputed South China Sea, saying such move violates a regional code of conduct it signed with other Asian claimants and threatens peace in the region.

“Its deployment does not contribute to collective efforts to strengthen regional stability and instead serves to threaten the status quo,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told a press briefing.

“Its deployment raises tension and violates the Declaration of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea,” Hernandez noted, referring to the accord signed by the China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia in 2002.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysiaand Brunei, which have claims over the resource-rich waters, and Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmarcomprise the ASEAN. Taiwan, a self-ruling democratic government regarded by Chinaas its renegade province, is also a claimant to the South China Sea.

China’s deployment of its sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, came after it unveiled a plan to set up an airspace defense zone in waters where Japan is also claiming ownership.

Chinese media reported that the Liaoningwill carry out "scientific research, tests and military drills” in the disputed waters - a move that is likely to stoke tensions anew with other claimants, particularly the most vocal ones like the Philippinesand Vietnam.

Hernandez said Manila expects Beijing to adhere to the existing international law, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a 1982 accord by 163 countries that sets territorial boundaries of coastal states. Chinais a signatory to the treaty.

“Its deployment must not be violative of international law. Its deployment must therefore not be for other than peaceful purposes,” Hernandez said.

Manila is locked in a long-running territorial rift with Chinaover the South China Sea.

The Philippines has adopted the name West Philippine Sea for some parts of the waters it is claiming.

Washington has declared that unfettered access to sea and peaceful resolution of disputes are in America’s national interest.

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