South China Sea: Philippines may file case against China before international tribunal over alleged damaged corals
The Philippines is considering pursuing a case against Beijing before an international tribunal for the alleged large-scale destruction of corals in reefs of the disputed South China Sea.
The coastguard this week released a video following underwater inspections of Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal, which Manila claims as its territory, revealing "severe damage" to the marine ecosystem.
The force said it also found dead corals that were cleaned and crushed before being dumped into the seabed in those areas where Chinese fishing boats had been spotted in recent months.
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It added that experts from the University of the Philippines would be roped in to study the damaged corals to ascertain if reclamation activities were responsible for the environmental degradation.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the government had a "lot of evidence" against China's activities that adversely affected the ecology of the resource-rich waterway.
"With or without the territorial dispute, the destruction of the environment is a sin against humanity, [that is why] it's a very good case to file on behalf of the Philippines and the sake of humanity itself," Remulla said.
He declined to elaborate on which international tribunal Manila would lodge the case with.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea - where the Philippines and several other nations have competing claims - and has rejected a 2016 international ruling that found its assertions have no legal basis.
While other countries claiming the sea have also developed parts of the contested waters, China has undertaken extensive infrastructure projects, including constructing runways, ports and radar systems, on the islands.
In 2002, Beijing signed a non-binding "declaration of conduct" with Southeast Asian nations that called on parties to refrain from "inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features".
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said he suspected foreign entities may have harvested corals to carry out island-building work but the assertions, including Chinese vessels' link to the incident, needed to be validated, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
"We have to validate because according to the arbitral award, it's a violation of the international treaty, the destruction of maritime livelihood particularly if the coral destruction is a cause of, or used for reclamation of artificial islands," he said.
As the maritime discord over the South China Sea rages on, Japan's ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa also expressed concern about the mass coral harvesting, calling it as "very alarming news".
"Our oceans are the lifeblood of our planet, and coral reefs are its colourful heartbeats. Let's preserve and protect these vital ecosystems for generations to come," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Beijing hit back at the diplomat, accusing him of "spreading disinformation".
"Oceans are indeed the lifeblood of our planet. So stop the release of contaminated nuclear water from Fukushima," the Chinese embassy in Manila said on X, referring to Tokyo's decision to discharge treated radioactive wastewater from the tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant.
Koshikawa countered the post and shared a study by his foreign ministry that noted "since mid-September 2014, multiple vessels believed to be Chinese coral vessels have been found in Japan's territorial waters near the Ogasawara Islands".
US envoy to Manila MaryKay Carlson said the marine habitat damage "harms ecosystems and negatively affects lives and livelihoods", adding Washington was working with its friends, partners and allies to protect the Southeast Asian nation's natural resources.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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