Philippine wages A legal battle over s.China sea

Manama

The Philippines recently waged a legal battle against China in The Hague, Netherlands, in a historic case over the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). 

On Tuesday, July 7, the Philippines argued that the arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague, has the right to hear the Philippines’ case. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario made an impassioned plea for the tribunal to recognize its jurisdiction.  Speaking at the first day of the crucial week-long hearing that aims to persuade the judges of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to assume jurisdiction on its case in The Hague, Albert del Rosario said the 1982 treaty renders China’s historic claim as invalid.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Manila’s top diplomat said, they “does not recognize, or permit the exercise of, so called ‘historic rights’ in areas beyond the limits of the maritime zones that are recognized or established by UNCLOS.’’ 

“Sadly, China disputes this in both word and deed,” Del Rosario said while he explained why the Philippines sought arbitration and why the court should assume jurisdiction over the country’s case. UNCLOS says that coastal states are allowed to explore, exploit and manage areas within 200-nautical miles from its coast.

China, Del Rosario said, “claims that it is entitled to exercise sovereign rights and jurisdiction, including the exclusive right to the resources of the sea and seabed, far beyond the limits established by the Convention, based on so-called ‘historic rights’ to these areas.” 

He also complained of Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness in asserting its claims as it already overlaps with Philippine areas covered by the UN-sanctioned UNCLOS.   “Whether these alleged ‘historic rights’ extend to the limits generally established by China’s so-called ‘nine dash line’, as appears to be China’s claim, or whether they encompass a greater or a narrower portion of the South China Sea, the indisputable fact, and the central element of the legal dispute between the Parties, is that China has asserted a claim of historic rights’ to vast areas of the sea and seabed that lie far beyond the limits of its EEZ and continental shelf entitlements under the Convention,” Del Rosario said.  

The DFA chief lamented that China has even “acted forcefully” to assert its so-called right “by exploiting the living and nonliving resources in the areas beyond the UNCLOS limits while forcibly preventing other coastal States, including the Philippines, from exploiting the resources in the same areas -- even though the areas lie well within 200 nautical miles of the Philippines’ coast” but hundreds of miles beyond Beijing’s EEZ or continental shelf. 

Del Rosario stressed that any recognition of such “historic rights” conflicts with the very character of UNCLOS and its express provisions concerning the maritime entitlements of coastal States. “China has pursued its activities in these disputed maritime areas with overwhelming force,” he said.