BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling at The Hague in 2016 invalidating China’s maritime claims in the disputed West Philippine Sea (WPS) has been consigned to limbo.
Even former President Rodrigo Duterte and incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. seemed to have dropped the international tribunal’s ruling in place of “economic benefits” by maintaining “harmonious” relations with China.
This, despite the mounting calls for the government to force China to adhere to the arbitral award under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Those actively advocating the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the WPS following the 2016 Hague ruling is retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza, who is a native of Iloilo City.
Why does China undermine the ruling of the international tribunal based on UNCLOS?
Zhang Zhen, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Cebu, labeled as “illegal, null, and void” the tribunal’s arbitral award to the Philippines and that China “has and will never accept it.”
“China’s rights and interests in the territorial claim in the South China Sea are deeply grounded in the historical facts and the international law,” Zhen told reporters in a press conference after attending the event relative to the Chinese New Year in this city on Thursday, Feb. 8.
Zhen also provided Panay News with a 41-page press briefer outlining China’s legal and historical evidence on the key waterway for local media “to get to the root of the issue and set the record straight.”
China adheres to settling the maritime dispute through “negotiation” and “peaceful consultation” with the other countries having territorial disputes with Beijing, according to the briefer.
In the briefer, Nanhai Zhudao, also known as the South China Sea Islands, is a term China uses to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
China said Nanhai Zhudao is composed of four main island groups: Dongsha Qundao (the Dongsha Islands), Xisha Qundao (the Xisha Islands), Zhongsha Qundao (the Zhongsha Islands), and Nansha Qundao (the Nansha Islands). These islands are considered by China as integral parts of its territory.
In 1970, China said the Philippines “invaded and illegally occupied” Nansha Qundao Island, thus “creating a territorial issue with China over these islands and reefs,” the briefer said.
In January 2013, China said the Philippines unilaterally initiated arbitration proceedings by “deliberately mischaracterizing and package” the maritime issues with the UNCLOS although maritime disputes have been excluded in the Convention under Article 298 of UNCLOS, the briefer added.
“This act is a wanton abuse of the UNCLOS dispute settlement procedures. In doing so, the Philippines attempts to deny China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” it further said.
China said its sovereign rights over Nansha Island are widely acknowledged in international treaties such as the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the 1900 Treaty of Washington, and the 1930 Convention.
The briefer also noted the Philippines repeatedly took several actions that “complicate” the maritime disputes.
It claimed the Philippines attempted to occupy the Huangyan Dao, or known as Scarborough Reef, which China claims to have “peacefully and effectively exercised sovereignty and jurisdiction.”
The briefer said the Philippines “acted in bad faith” when it unilaterally initiated the maritime protest before the international tribunal despite knowing that such territorial dispute was excluded from UNCLOS compulsory dispute settlement.
China adheres to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea by international law, the briefer added.
“China endeavors to achieve win-win outcomes through mutually beneficial cooperation, and is committed to making the South China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation, and friendship,” read part of the briefer.
Likewise, China calls for consultation on the ASEAN Code of Conduct with other Southeast Asian nations and the adoption of Preventive Measures to Manage Risk At Sea.
“China is a staunch force for upholding peace and stability and advancing cooperation and development in the South China Sea,” according to the briefer.
It added: “China firmly believes that no matter what mechanism or means is chosen for settling disputes between any countries, the consent of states concerned should be the basis of that choice, and the will of sovereign states should not be violated.”/PN
