Nagbigay ng pahayag si Senador Risa Hontiveros hinggil sa inilabas na 2023 ‘standard map’ ng China.

“China is delusional. Wala na sa huwisyo itong Tsina. Kung ano-ano na lang ang ginagawa para mang-angkin ng mga teritoryong hindi naman sa kanya. This ‘map’ is Beijing’s desperate attempt to assert its lies and propaganda,” pahayag ni Hontiveros nitong Huwebes, Agosto 31. 

Binanggit ng senador na makikita sa inilabas na umano’y standard map ng China, sa state-owned newspaper nito na “Global Times,” na inaangkin ng naturang bansa ang malaking parte ng South China Sea, kabilang ang Exclusive Economic Zone ng Pilipinas doon.

Bukod dito, binigyang-diin din sa naturang mapa ang Taiwan gayundin ang Arunachal Pradesh at Aksai Chin ng India bilang bahagi ng domain ng China. 

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Dagdag pa ng senadora, naghain na ang India ng protesta kaugnay sa inilabas na mapa ng China, at umaasa siyang gagawin din ito ng Department of Foreign Affairs. 

“India has already lodged a protest against China for issuing this ridiculous map. Umaasa ako na ang ating Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) ay maghahain din ng diplomatikong protesta laban dito. Kung mas maraming mga bansa ang tumutol sa mapang ito, mas maitutuwid natin ang kasinungalingan ng Tsina,” saad ni Hontiveros. 

“Isang dekada na ang nakalipas, hindi pa rin natatauhan ang Tsina. We know that China is a master manipulator, willing to bend the truth for her own gain, at the expense of countries like ours. China will continue to spread fake news, fund pro-Beijing mouthpieces, and distribute propaganda materials. We must push back. We must not rest until China stops her absurdity,” dagdag pa niya. 

Samantala, nagpahayag ng pagtutol nitong Huwebes ang Pilipinas kasama ang iba pang bansa gaya ng New Delhi at Kuala Lumpur kaugnay sa naturang mapa.

"The Philippines rejects the 2023 version of China’s Standard Map issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China on August 28, 2023, because of its inclusion of the nine-dashed line (now a ten-dashed line) that supposedly shows China's boundaries in the South China Sea," pahayag ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

"This latest attempt to legitimize China's purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones has no basis under international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," dagdag pa nito.

Iginiit din ng DFA na ang 2016 Arbitral Ruling na inilabas ng Permanent Court of Arbitration sa The Hague ay nagpawalang-bisa sa dash-line claim ng China, na dati ay siyam.

"It categorically stated that 'maritime areas of the South China Sea encompassed by the relevant part of the 'nine-dash line' are contrary to the Convention and without lawful effect to the extent that they exceed the geographic and substantive limits of China's maritime entitlements under the Convention,'"

Nicole Therise Marcelo and Ralph Mendoza