China submits to UN chart showing Bajo de Masinloc part of its territorial waters

China has submitted to the United Nations a statement on the baselines of its territorial sea which included a chart showing the Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal as part of its territorial waters.

According to Chino Gaston’s report in “24 Oras” on Tuesday, Bajo de Masinloc is well within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The waters around Bajo de Masinloc, a triangular coral reef formation, is rich with natural resources.

Under Article 84 of UNCLOS, a country is obliged to publish charts that will show the boundaries or limits of their continental shelf. 

The  Philippine National Maritime Council has criticized China’s claims. 

“The Council notes the announcement by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the baselines and corresponding base points around Bajo de Masinloc (BDM). These baselines are drawn in violation of the Philippines’ long-established sovereignty over the shoal throughout history,” it said in a statement.

“The establishment of the baselines by China around the shoal is a continuation of its 2012 illegal seizure of the shoal, which the Philippines continues to strongly oppose,” it added. 

Maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said that China’s latest action has no effect on the legitimate legal interests and position of the Philippines on Bajo de Masinloc. 

UNCLOS’ Article 134 stated that any filing of charts or declarations of territory won’t affect the rights given to a coastal state under Article 76. 

Article 76 provides that the Philippines is the coastal state that has a right on the continental shelf where Bajo de Masinloc is located. 

“The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance,” the UNCLOS’ Article 76 read.  —Vince Angelo Ferreras/NB, GMA Integrated News