Ten Questions Regarding Huangyan Island(7)

7. Why do you say that the Philippine claim of the sovereignty over Huangyan Island does not hold water?

The Philippines' position on Huangyan Island has been inconsistent and self-contradictory and is absolutely groundless according to the international law.  

    a) Before the 1990s, the Philippines had never challenged China's sovereignty and jurisdiction over Huangyan Island.

    b) In the late 1990s, the Philippines advanced its territorial claim over Huangyan Island on the ground of geographic proximity and on the excuse that Huangyan Island is located within the 200 nautical miles of the Philippine EEZ according to its one-sided interpretation of UNCLOS. However, the principle of geographic proximity does not provide the legal basis for territorial sovereignty while its EEZ-based claim violates the principle of international law that "the land dominates the sea", and it is also a misinterpretation and abuse of the UNCLOS.

    c) After the Huangyan Island Incident in April 2012, the Philippines has given a new reason for its claim, saying that the Philippines has effectively occupied and managed Huangyan Island ever since its independence. But China has discovered, exploited, named and effectively administered Huangyan Island and has never stopped its effective jurisdiction over the island even since the 13th century, much earlier than the independence of the Philippines.