ANGELES CITY- The country’s biggest alliance of fisherfolk has written the Chinese government a “humble appeal” to resort to “bilateral and inter-nation dialogues with other claimants” of areas in the West Philippine Sea “rather than engage in hardcore assertion of some that needs to be carefully studied.”
The alliance warned that the territorial conflict among the claimant-nations could be exploited by the US government to promote its interests in the area. “We the leaders and representatives of Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), a national federation of small fisherfolk in the Philippines,
submit this humble appeal to the Chinese government to recall the new fishing rule that demands foreign fishing vessels to seek permit before entering the disputed waters.”
The latter was coursed through Chinese ambassador for the Philippines Ma Keqing. “Honorable Ambassador,
we ask the Beijing government to consider this appeal from the Filipino fisherfolk and to allow diplomatic and peaceful resolutions to the conflict,” the letter said.
The letter pointed out that “about two million square kilometers of the South China Sea, out of the 3.5 million square kilometers is being claimed by Beijing and five other countries are also claiming and are trying to assert their own sovereignty based on historical and legal assertions.”
“All claimants to South China Sea must come together and resolve this conflict collectively and in accordance
with national sovereign rights of their respective peoples,” it said. It said that instead of being torn with conflict over the contested waters, the claimants could unite “to frustrate the intervention of the United States — the biggest threat to world peace.”
“US government who (sic) is obsessed in controlling West Philippine Sea for oil resources, navigation and military control over the East Asia and Pacific region,” the letter asserted. “Madam Ambassador at this juncture, we propose a South China Sea fishing dialogue to be participated in by representatives of governments currently involved in the West Philippine Sea conflict.
The dialogue will enjoin fisherfolk associations and non-government organizations (sic). The principles of equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit, non-aggression, peaceful co-existence and foreign relations based on people-to-people relations and international solidarity shall serve as framework for the proposed dialogue,”
the letter also said.
The group also expressed hope that its “letter of concern merits the attention and favorable action of the Beijing government in the name of world peace, peaceful co-existence and cooperation and fraternal relations based on mutual respect and benefi ts among claimants in South China Sea and thwart any effort of Washington D.C to exploit the situation for US own agenda for global hegemony.”
Source: Punto.com
