China thumbs down RP Spratly’s sovereignty claim By Michaela P. del Callar 04/16/2011

China thumbs down RP Spratly’s sovereignty claim

By Michaela P. del Callar 04/16/2011

China finds “unaccept-able” the Philippine claim to the disputed Spratlys, saying its sovereignty over the territories “is well-grounded from both historical and legal perspectives.”

“China owns sovereignty and jurisdiction over the related sea area, seabed and subsoil,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing Thursday.

The Philippines has protested before the United Nations China’s claim over the long-disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea and adjacent waters as “without basis in international law,” the third of five Asian claimants to oppose Beijing’s far-reaching territorial bid before the world body..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110416hed7.html