Philippines' territorial claim is untenable

Until 1997, the Philippines never disputed China's jurisdiction and development of the island. But recently the Philippines has played tricks and triggered disturbances, as well as claiming the island as theirs.

The Philippines says it is the nearest country to Huangyan Island, so it claims the island belongs to it on this premise.

"This theory based on geographic distance for territorial sovereignty has absolutely no basis in international law and judicial practice," according to Zhang Haiwen, deputy director of China Institute for Marine Affairs under State Oceanic Administration.

"There is no such principle in international law that determines territorial ownership by geographic distance," Zhang said, noting that many countries around the world have territories which are far away from their mainland and much closer to other countries.

"For example, the British Channel Islands are less than 12 nautical miles off the French coastline at their closest proximity. Some French territorial islands stretch across the Atlantic, lie close to the Canadian coastline in north America and even in the Pacific. But none of these islands have territorial disputes due to geographic distance," said Zhang.

"The world map would be totally redrawn if the Philippines' theory was upheld," Zhang said.

The Philippines claims that Huangyan Island is in the country's 200-nautical miles-wide Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and says its claim is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Liu Feng, a researcher with National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said that the UNCLOS has neither the articles to change a country's land territory, nor does it have the authority to allow a country to take another country's territory by the right of the EEZ and the continental shelf.

The Philippines claims that the United States controlled Huangyan Island, thus it has inherited the island's sovereignty and jurisdiction from the U.S. military.

"U.S. forces in the Philippines used Huangyan Island as a shooting range, but the U.S. has never claimed sovereignty over the island. How could the Philippines inherit it? It's ridiculous," said Zhang Haiwen.

"All the Philippine rhetoric is untenable in terms of international law," said Liu Feng. "So the Philippines wants to take the initiative to stir things up by sending warships to harass Chinese fishermen in Huangyan Island waters and escalate tensions."