Philippines seeks Sweden’s support in maritime dispute with China

The Philippine government courted Sweden’s support for the arbitration case it filed over its territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea, it was learned on February 18.

Bilateral meeting between Sweden's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Anika Soder and the Philippines' Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Zeneida Angara Collinson, 9 February 2015. PHOTO courtesy of Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs
Bilateral meeting between Sweden’s State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Anika Soder and the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Zeneida Angara Collinson, 9 February 2015. PHOTO courtesy of Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs

At the third bilateral consultations in Stockholm on February 9, both sides “agreed on the importance of peaceful settlement of maritime disputes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a news release.

“Sweden recognized arbitration as a mode of peaceful settlement of disputes,” DFA added.

The territorial dispute was among the bilateral, regional, and international issues discussed by Philippine Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson, Sweden’s State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Anika Söder, and Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for Trade Eva Walder.

Read more: Interaksyon

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