A ranking member of the House of Representatives yesterday accused China of implementing a double standard with its “expansionist” conduct in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), demanding respect but continuing its bullying of the Philippines and other neighboring countries.
“While China wants the international community to respect their self-drawn nine-dash line and eleven-dash line, they do not respect us and continue to intrude in our declared 200-mile economic zone,” quad committee overall chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers observed.
The Surigao del Norte second district congressman further claimed that Beijing repeatedly “ignores the decision of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) on the issue” which Manila won in July 2016.
In a statement, entitled “China wants respect over their WPS claims but disrespects Philippines, other Asian country-claimants in the region,” Barbers assailed China’s “expansionist” policies and its “bullying tactics by “questioning and trying to meddle over the country’s laws and policies.”
The chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs issued the statement following protests by the Chinese government over President Marcos’ recent signing of two maritime laws – Republic Acts 12064 and 12065 – both aimed at reinforcing the country’s rights over its maritime zones.
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