When will the PH government really take on Beijing?

Albert del Rosario – PHOTO APPLICANT

This year may be the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is also a year in which several countries strongly opposed China’s expansionism in the South China Sea, as China took advantage of the pandemic to promote its legality and historically . unfounded claims.

On July 13, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stated that the United States is “aligning” its position on China’s maritime claims with the July 12, 2016 arbitration award that the Philippines won against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The “alignment” of the United States with the Unclos award unequivocally means that the United States is on the side of the Philippines on its rights in the Western Philippine Sea. This is supported by Secretary Pompeo’s pronouncement last year that the US-PH Mutual Defense Treaty applies in the South China Sea as part of the Pacific and “any armed attack against Philippine public forces, aircraft or vessels in the Sea China will trigger mutual defense obligations under … our mutual defense treaty. “Therefore, based on these pronouncements, the United States will support the Philippines in the event of a Chinese armed attack against the Armed Forces of the Philippines. , public vessels or aircraft legitimately stationed or in transit in the South China Sea.

America’s alignment with the Unclos award also means that the United States is on the side of Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei on their maritime rights in the South China Sea according to Unclos. Like the Philippines, these coastal states in the South China Sea rely primarily on the Unclos to defend their maritime rights against China’s absurd assertion of nine lines.

Verbal notes

This year, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia were the first to issue notes verbales forcefully rejecting China’s claims in the South China Sea to the United Nations, as these countries have been doing so since China formally submitted its nine-line claim. of scripts to the world in 2009. These countries were followed by Indonesia’s note verbale on May 26 that expressly affirmed the Unclos award and stated that it is “not bound by any claim made in contravention of international law, including Unclos 1982 “.

On July 23, Australia sent a note verbale to the United Nations rejecting China’s claims on the South China Sea. It stated, inter alia, that “the Australian government … challenges China’s claim that it is not bound by the arbitration award … [T]The court’s decision is final and binding on both parties to the dispute. “

On September 16, the United Kingdom, France and Germany sent a joint note verbale to the United Nations invoking the primacy of the UN and the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. These countries stated that China’s “historic rights” in the South China Sea, as included in its nine-dash-line claim, “do not comply with international law and the provisions of the Unclos and … that the arbitration award in the Philippines v. China case dating from July 12, 2016 clearly confirms this point ”.

At the EU-China leaders meeting in September, the European Union called on China to take greater responsibility in upholding the international rules-based system and refrain from unilateral actions in the South China Sea.

Duterte invokes prize

Towards the end of his term and in the context of his accommodative stance towards China, President Duterte finally invoked the Unclos award before the 75th UN General Assembly and at the 37th ASEAN Virtual Summit this year, after our Repeated calls to do so since the issuance of the Unclos award in 2016.

President Duterte —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

However, invoking the Unclos prize is not enough. It is critical that the Philippines, as a party that won the award, take action that truly enforces the award. As we said before, there is no world police force and it is up to us to enforce this victory for the Filipino people, as well as the rule of law that almost all nations follow. Given the consolidated support of the Unclos award not only by the South China Sea countries, but also by the states that follow the Unclos, it makes perfect sense for the Philippine government to act now. Our government should actively take advantage of this support through the conclusion of conventions or treaties with the countries that incorporate the award; we should welcome and join the joint patrols and freedom of navigation and overflight operations conducted by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Japan; and we must develop a credible defense posture to protect our land and waters from China’s invasive tactics.

Hold China accountable

It is also important to hold Chinese officials criminally and monetarily responsible for the massive and unforgivable destruction of the marine environment in the South China Sea. We respectfully call on our government to support public and private efforts to do so, such as our efforts at the International Criminal Court to hold Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials accountable for crimes against humanity.

We have been told that we should commit ourselves to meet China’s demands, unreasonable as they are, because “China is a big country and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.” We have been told that we have to get to China halfway and that we cannot ignore Chinese demands because China is a superpower.

Michael Pompeo —AFP

The growing opposition to China among countries that respect the rule of law gives us renewed hope that China’s vision of “power does good” has not taken hold of our collective worldview.

We respectfully call on our government: it is time to stand up for our rights, actively join our allies in upholding the rule of law, and firmly reject China’s exploitative worldview. INQ

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