TNAG-1625-FCO40-2239-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1987 — Page 40

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other natural resources in the Philippines continental shelf(1) are subject to the jurisdiction and control of the Republic of the Philippines. The definition of the continental shelf as given in the declaration is in the footnote below. (1) It is worth noting that President Marcos claimed the Spratlys were part of the continental shelf in his press conference of July 1971 (see para 33).

37. United States. The United States has no claim to the islands though they were presumably in a position to make such a claim when they determined the foreign policy of the Philippines before 1946. They protested against Japanese annexation in 1939. They have however been interested in the area for some time. In 1955 they asked the British Government about their claims to islands within the "Dangerous Ground" area including roughly territory between 70 and 120Lat. N and 1110 and 117 Long.E. It is interesting that an American memorandum at the time appears uncertain as to which area Japan renounced in 1951. The claim of a United States' citizen, Meads, (2) on Itu Aba (see also para 5) to the "Kingdom of Humanity" is mentioned by the British Embassy at Manila in 1956.

In 1957 the US Air Attaché in the Philippines told the British Embassy at Manila that US detachments had landed on North Danger, Sin Cowe and Spratly as part of a world-wide military electronic mapping project. "Before doing so they had notified the "Governments concerned" (ie the Chinese Nationalists, the Vietnamese and the Filipinos): they had not "asked for clearance" as had been erroneously stated by the Chinese Nationalists in Taipeh. They did not wish to prejudice any of the claims made to the islands." The Embassy noted that the Attaché also referred to the possibility "that oil deposits might exist in the vicinity of Spratly and other islands and shoals".

(1)

The relevant part of Declaration 370 is given below

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby proclaim that all the mineral and other natural resources to the seabed and subsoil of the continental shelf adjacent to the Philippines, but outside the area of its territorial sea to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of such resources, including living organisms belonging to sedentary species appertain to the Philippines and are subject to its exclusive jurisdiction and control for purposes of exploration and exploitation. In any case where the continental shelf is shared with (adjacent states) the boundary shall be determined by the Philippines (and the state) in accordance with legal and equitable principles. The character of the waters above those submarine areas as high seas and that of the airspace above those waters, is not affected by this proclamation."

(2)

According to a United States memorandum of 1971 Meads' claim was made shortly after World War II. The United States Government has been asked to support the claim more than once. Meads is believed to have granted oil exploration contracts to at least one Texan oil company.

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