DFA verifying reports of new Chinese structures in Panganiban Reef

The Department of Foreign Affairs is verifying reports that China is building new structures in Mischief Reef, a Philippine-claimed territory in the South China (West Philippine) Sea that Beijing occupied in 1995.

“We will verify the information and the photo with the Department of National Defense,” DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez told reporters Monday.

The department will act appropriately as soon as it confirms report that  China is fortifying its structures in the area also called Panganiban Reef, according to the DFA official.

“We will wait until we have verified it,” he said.

If confirmed, such move could be seen as a violation of a non-binding code of conduct signed by Beijing and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, of which the Philippines and other South China Sea claimants Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, are members.

Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are other members of the ASEAN.

The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea or DOC, which does not provide sanctions against states that violate its provisions, calls on all claimants to exercise restraint and stop new occupation of territories.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Indonesia to encourage unity among Southeast Asian nations in an effort to manage increasingly tense disputes with China.

China, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia lay claim on parts or the entire contested region, where gas deposits have been discovered in several areas.

China, which claims the South China Sea in its entirety, prefers to negotiate one on one with other claimants, giving it an undue advantage because of its sheer economic and military clout compared to smaller rival claimants.

Beijing is likewise pushing for the shelving of disputes and for joint development in the strategic waters pending a final resolution of the claims.