President Rodrigo Duterte promised that he would raise the issue of the territorial dispute at the West Philippine Sea with his fellow Southeast Asian leaders at the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Thailand.
Duterte is in Thailand this weekend to attend the regional meet.
“Is it correct for China to declare ownership of an ocean? I am posing this question. Can you claim a whole ocean? Because nobody can prevent America from claiming a third of the Pacific Ocean,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City.
“I will talk lengthily about it dito sa ASEAN. It’s not a matter of young nine-dash line. Simple lang. Can you claim an ocean as your own? Tell me now because I will also claim mine.”
Beijing’s territorial claims also overlap with the boundaries of other Asian neighbors such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
It was in July 2016 that the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China had no historic rights to resources within its so-called nine-dash line, an area that covers a large part of the resource-rich South China Sea, including Philippine territory.
The ruling also declared that the Philippines has the sole authority to exploit and develop resources within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone provided for under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both countries are signatory.
China has refused to recognize the ruling.
The Philippines is currently the dialogue coordinator between China and ASEAN on negotiations for a South China Sea Code of Conduct, which aims to prevent conflict,
