China’s next move: Start civilian flights, set up ‘maritime judicial center’ on WPS

• China will begin civilian flights to one of the disputed islands in West Philippine Sea/South China Sea


• The plan is expected to worsen the already volatile regional stability brought by China’s continued defiance of existing international laws


• Beijing’s Supreme People’s Court also bared plan to set an ‘international maritime judicial center’ to supposedly protect its sovereignty over contested islands

MANILA, Philippines  – China has revealed two solid plans which are expected to further heighten the tension in the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea  in the coming months.

First, Chinese media reported that Beijing will begin civilian flights to one of disputed islands in South China Sea, which is also claimed by Vietnam, as part of China’s expansionist agenda that continue to defy international laws.

In its report last week, state news agency Xinhua said the flight destination will likely be the Sansha city on Woody Island which is part of the Paracels chain. There are currently two Chinese passenger ships and police patrol boats deployed in the area for mobile communications.

Sansha’s airfield is one of the newest facilities built by Chinese troops in the contested territories. Along with another new airfield in Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef in Spratlys, the structures are expected to boost air traffic surveillance in the region, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, A US State Department official described China’s plan for a civilian flight to Woody Island as “inconsistent with the region’s commitments to exercise restraint from actions that could complicate or escalate disputes”.

“China should heed to its prior public commitments to cease land reclamation and militarization on their outposts in the South China Sea, and instead focus on reaching agreement on acceptable behavior in disputed areas,” spokesperson Anna Richey-Allen added in a statement.

Maritime judicial center

Also to follow anytime soon is the setting up of the so-called ‘international maritime judicial center’ which is supposedly aimed at protecting China’s sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea.

This was revealed in a recent report to China’s largely rubber stamp parliament by Chief Justice Zhou Qiang. The plan would mainly involve working on a national strategy that would make China a ‘maritime power’ in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We must resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests,” Zhou of the Supreme People’s Court said in the report; adding that Beijing will “improve the work of maritime courts and build an international maritime judicial center.”

However, the report failed to mention how the center will operate, where it will be set up, and what cases would be accepted by its courts.

China has repeatedly dismissed the arbitration case filed by the Philippines before the international court in The Hague Netherlands.

The communist giant vowed not to recognize the outcome of the arbitration and insists that the Philippines should instead return to the negotiating table to resolve the matter through bilateral talks.

Kicker Daily News