PARTLY due to time constraints, but mostly due to the thought-provoking quality of the point made by SeaLight Foundation Executive Director Ray Powell — a frequent source for West Philippine Sea (WPS)-related news for us here at The Manila Times — I am taking a page from ol’ cut-and-paste’s playbook today to share a recent statement (June 17) by the Chinese Embassy in Manila that was posted to Facebook, and an intriguing rejoinder to it posted to LinkedIn by Mr. Powell on June 18. The embassy’s statement was a reaction to comments made by Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela, the spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral award in favor of the Philippines in its long-running dispute over the West Philippine Sea.
Before I begin, I need to make a couple of clarifications. To start with, I’ve only used the term “West Philippine Sea” as a polite sop to the Philippine audience, and to get everyone’s attention; that is not the recognized name for that body of water, but it’s not a point worth arguing about now. Call it whatever you like.
Second, I usually reserve my analyses of developments in the South China Sea for a private client, but I thought it worthwhile to depart from that this time because the arguments offered by both sides in this little tête-à-tête are compelling. I have a definite opinion about which one I think is right, but that is not the point. Popular politics, on both sides, compels both sides to scrub much of the depth and nuance from the debate; these two statements, though sharply worded, restore some of that.
So, with that said, let’s begin with the statement from the Chinese Embassy in reaction to Tarriela’s comments:
“Mr. Tarriela repeatedly mentions the ‘South China Sea arbitration case,’ which is essentially a political maneuver cloaked in legal form. The so-called South China Sea arbitration and its award are illegal, null and void.
“The essence of the China-Philippines maritime disputes lies in territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. China and the Philippines have reached consensus on resolving relevant disputes through negotiation and consultation, which has been repeatedly confirmed in bilateral documents. The two sides also made solemn commitments to settle disputes through negotiation and consultation in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), jointly signed by China and Asean countries in 2002. The Philippines’ unilateral initiation of arbitration proceedings violated the international law principle of pacta sunt servanda.
“In 2006, China made a declaration under Article 298 of Unclos, excluding disputes concerning maritime delimitation and other related matters from compulsory arbitration. This declaration constitutes an integral part of the dispute settlement mechanism under the Convention. By distorting and repackaging the issues, the Philippines unilaterally initiated arbitration, violating international law principles that require respect for sovereign States’ right to choose dispute-settlement methods, and constituting an abuse of the Unclos dispute-settlement mechanism.
“Therefore, the Philippines’ unilateral initiation of arbitration violated international law, including the Unclos dispute-settlement mechanism. The arbitral tribunal established at the unilateral request of the Philippines in the South China Sea arbitration case lacked jurisdiction ab initio, and its award is null and void, and has no binding force. In fact, China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea are not affected in any way by the arbitral award. China neither accepts nor recognizes the award, and firmly opposes and does not accept any claims or actions based on the so-called arbitral award.
“A decade on, the so-called arbitral award has done nothing to resolve the maritime issues between China and the Philippines. Instead, it has only added complicating factors and created serious difficulties for the bilateral relationship. What has happened over the past 10 years makes it clear that the Philippine side’s persistent attempt to enforce the award will get it nowhere. It will only undermine bilateral ties and regional peace and stability. China urges the Philippine side to earnestly respect China’s sovereignty rights and interests, immediately stop hyping up the so-called arbitration and return to the right path of addressing maritime issues through bilateral dialogue.”
In response to that, SeaLight Foundation’s Ray Powell had this to say on LinkedIn, and gave his kind permission for me to share it here:
“You call the 2016 arbitral award ‘illegal, null and void’ and accuse the Philippines of bad faith for invoking it. You rest that accusation on the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea and on the principle that agreements must be kept.
“Fine. Let’s take that argument at face value.
“The DOC commits its signatories to resolve disputes peacefully, respect freedom of navigation, and exercise self-restraint in activities that would ‘complicate or escalate’ tensions. China signed those commitments, too, so let’s measure its actions against its own signed agreement.
“– China dredged and filled thousands of acres of coral reef to build artificial islands in the Spratlys, converting pristine reefs into military outposts with runways, harbors, sensors and missile systems.
“– China seized control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and has increasingly blocked Filipino fishermen’s access, devastating the livelihoods of communities up and down the Zambales coastline.
“– China’s coast guard and maritime militia have repeatedly blocked, rammed, water-cannoned and swarmed smaller Philippine vessels to forcibly assert its absurdly vast maritime claims based on unilaterally declared ‘historic rights.’
“Let’s recall that on August 11th of last year, China turned a peaceful Philippine patrol into a deadly high-speed intercept in which a 7,500-ton PLA Navy destroyer bore down on a 350-ton Philippine Coast Guard vessel before colliding with a China Coast Guard ship involved in the same pursuit. This happened while China was enforcing an undeclared (but very real) 30-nautical-mile exclusion zone around the Scarborough Shoal — one which clearly violates the freedom of navigation China promised to respect under the DOC.
“That is certainly not the peaceful self-restraint China signed up to.
“– It is aggression masked as law enforcement — until the mask drops and the guided-missile destroyer shows the world its true, violent face.
“– It is gaslighting — invoking an agreement as a weapon against a smaller neighbor while blatantly ignoring your own obligations under the very same agreement.
“– It is highly escalatory and precisely the kind of collision risk the 2016 tribunal correctly found unlawful.
“Now you urge the Philippines to abandon the award and ‘return to bilateral dialogue.’ But why on Earth would any rational party do that? If China routinely abrogates the pledges it made to all of Asean under the DOC, why should the Philippines now trust it alone, one-on-one, bound by no rule Beijing is willing to accept above its own coercive will backed by violence?”
Bluesky: @benkritz.bsky.social
Website: www.badmannersgunclub.com