Philippine President Benigno Aquino attacks China for breaking deal on South China Sea
Beijing has denied ever making a deal with Manila and Washington, a Philippine diplomat who was involved in the negotiations said.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday accused China of breaking a US-brokered deal between the two nations on the Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the South China Sea.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim the waterway, through which about US$5 trillion in ship-borne goods pass every year.
Beijing seized control of Scarborough Shoal, near the main Philippine island of Luzon, in June 2012, following a three-month stand-off after a Philippine Navy vessel tried to arrest Chinese fishermen found illegally hauling giant clams there.
There was a deal, which we observed religiously. We hope the other side will do what we have done
On Thursday, Aquino said the United States moved in quickly to resolve the stand-off, brokering a “face-saving” deal by asking both nations to pull out their ships, but only the Philippines withdrew.
“Now, their continued presence is something that we have continuously objected to,” Aquino told reporters in his hometown in Tarlac, north of the Philippine capital.
“There was a deal, which we observed religiously. We hope the other side will do what we have done.”
China’s embassy in Manila did not respond to request for comment on Aquino’s remarks.
