Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) — The Japanese government maintains its support to the Philippines’ stances on maritime issues, particularly in the situation of the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.
The DFA said this was mentioned during the Philippines and Japan’s fifth maritime dialogue in Tokyo, Japan along with “key components of the two countries’ active engagement in the field of maritime cooperation.”“The delegations exchanged views on issues of mutual interest; particularly the situation in vital waterways of the West Philippine Sea, Luzon Strait, Sulu-Celebes Seas, and the East China Sea; regional efforts to maintain peace and stability; and climate change,” the department said in a statement. The two Asian nations also stressed the importance of international rulings of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the international treaty recognizing the Philippines’ sovereign rights to some areas in the South China Sea that China is claiming.
The DFA said Japan also reiterated its support for the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea, the arbitrary ruling which determined that major elements of China’s claim — including its nine-dash line, land reclamation, and other activities in Philippine waters — were unlawful.
“On practical cooperation, Japan conveyed its continuing support for Philippine initiatives to enhance maritime domain awareness and combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, as well as other capacity-building projects,” the department wrote.Delegations in the dialogue included DFA Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Maria Angela Ponce and Deputy Director General Hayashi Makoto of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department.
