PHL taking ‘strategic’ approach to UN General Assembly suit vs China

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is taking a “strategic, deliberate and calibrated approach” amid calls for the Philippines to file a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the South China Sea, Manila’s top envoy said on Tuesday.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio Reporter

Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P, Lazaro said the DFA is studying the possibility of a UNGA resolution on Chinese activities in the contested waters but emphasized the agency’s priority is securing a seat at the UN Security Council.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs is looking at a strategic, deliberate and calibrated approach, and this is what we need to promote the resolution that you have mentioned,” she told lawmakers at a congressional hearing, “We are consulting the mission in New York on the possibilities and the probabilities of having this resolution passed.”

“We're looking at it and we're studying it very carefully,” she added.

Congressmen in late-August urged the DFA to raise concerns on Chinese activities in the South China Sea before the UN General Assembly, as they pressed China to cease what was described as its “hostile and aggressive” actions in the waterbody.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea under its controversial nine-dash line, overlapping with the claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.