RP to China: Respect rule of law. China must show to the world that it respects the rule of law for it to be accepted as a responsible nation by the international community, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez yesterday said in a new war of words with Beijing officials. “China can end this South China Sea dispute by defining what the core issue is. China claims indisputable sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea through its nine-dash line claim, which is an excessive claim that is in gross violation of international law,” Hernandez told a news conference yesterday. Hernandez’s statement was in response to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s accusations that the Philippines backtracked on its commitment to resolve both nations’ territorial rifts in a “step-by-step” manner. “To be accepted as a responsible nation, China has no choice. It must show to the international community its respect for the rule of law, including the mechanism of arbitration which is being pursued by the Philippines to clearly define respective maritime entitlements in the South China Sea,” Hernandez said. China’s massive claim to the South China Sea, or known in the Philippines as West Philippine Sea, and its persistent incursions in Philippine waters has prompted Manila seek legal recourse through international arbitration, Philippine officials said. The ill-equipped Philippine military is no match to China’s, but the Philippines believes that justice can be dispensed equally through international law whether the protagonists are small nations or world powers. Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda expressed positive expectations would come out on the United Nations arbitration tribunal that convened at The Hague to review a complaint filed by the Philippine government questioning the legality of China’s massive territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea. “We have always maintained that we have legal basis to bring the case before the arbitral tribunal. Certainly, this is a step that we welcome and we hope that this will be resolved in an expeditious manner,” Lacierda said. Lacierda said that part of the issues that are going to be handled by the arbitral tribunal will be issues on jurisdiction and that’s something that the Aquino administration had expected already. “But knowing that we filed it in the arbitral tribunal, we have already anticipated that the issue on jurisdiction will be raised. And, therefore, our lawyers — both the Solicitor General and the other lawyers involved — are fully cognizant of that particular issue,” Lacierda said. Lacierda said that since the tribunal is an arbitration, “we certainly would hope that they will look with favor in our position.” The Philippine government has been protesting Chinese ships the presence in the disputed shoal. The Philippines protested that China’s vast territorial claim, violates the international treaty on UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLoS). The treaty of 1982 UN Convention was ratified by more than 160 countries, including China and the Philippines, and sets nautical and territorial limits for coastal states and aims to govern the use of offshore areas worldwide. Should the tribunal at The Hague declares that it has to exercise jurisdiction over the case filed by the Philippines, a formal inquiry would be made. The Philippine government asked the UN tribunal to order China to stop violating the country’s territorial rights. China had expressed opposition to involve third parties or world bodies in the South China Sea disputes. China refused to join the arbitration, saying the basis of Manila’s arguments are groundless. Competing claims to the South China Sea, a strategic waterway believed to be sitting atop huge gas and oil deposits, by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have sparked occasional violence and now regarded as a potential regional flashpoint for armed conflict. The US, Philippines’ military treaty ally, is not a party to the territorial row but has declared that it is in its national interest to ensure unfettered access to the sea and that conflicts are resolved peacefully. Beijing warned the US to stay away from the disputes, which it described as an Asian issue that should not involve outsiders like Washington. Filipino groups will mount simultaneous protests on July 24 in Manila and in several countries and capitals where China has a diplomatic mission to denounce what it calls violation of international law and bullying of the Philippines. Among those who pledged to join in the demonstrations are Filipino organizations in the United States, London, Rome, Italy and Israel. Hernandez said the planned demonstration is a peaceful exercise by Filipinos who wanted their voices heard on the issue. “I understand these actions are being led by individuals and groups in their private capacity. Filipinos have all the right to express and voice out in a peaceful manner their position and sentiments in the issue in the West Philippine Sea,” Hernandez said. Paul Atienza and PNAPublished in Nation. tribuneonline.org/index.php/nation/item/16863-rp-to-china-respect-rule-of-law
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 10:33:37 +0000
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