Let’s not even talk of the Philippine title to Sabah which the P-Noy administration is apparently still studying. Let’s just talk about basic obligations, and not just privileges of states.
Last Feb. 19, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, through Ambassador Ma Keqing, sent a diplomatic note to our Department of Foreign Affairs that it was rejecting the Philippine notice to arbitrate and the statement of claims on the West Philippine Sea controversy. This was the arbitration resorted to by the Philippines to challenge the legality of China’s nine-dash lines under the compulsory and mandatory dispute settlement procedure of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). This effectively means that China has snubbed the arbitration and will not participate in the proceedings.
JUST TWO days after Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario correctly invited China to settle the Scarborough Shoal controversy peacefully in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Intlos) to “ascertain which of us has sovereign rights over the waters surrounding Scarborough Shoal where Chinese ships are currently engaging in illegal activities within the [...]
The Aquino administration’s grip on international law issues was tested recently in three pressing international incidents.
