The
Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has issued a ruling in
favor of the Philippines, rebuking China’s massive claim over the South China
Sea.
In a
historic ruling issued after several months of arguments and submissions of
documents, the five-man arbitral tribunal has dismissed China’s nine-dash line
claim saying it is contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS).
“The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim
historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash
line. Having found that none of the features claimed by China was capable of
generating an exclusive economic zone, the Tribunal found that it could—without
delimiting a boundary—declare that certain sea areas are within the exclusive
economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any
possible entitlement of China.”
The Philippines took China to the arbitral tribunal on January 2013
challenging the legality of its nine-dash line claim over nearly the entire
South China Sea including areas in the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic
zone.
But the Tribunal said there was no evidence that China had historically
exercised exclusive control over such waters or its resources.
“The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim
historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash
line,” the Tribunal’s ruling stated.
China had refused to participate in the proceedings. It insisted that
the dispute was about sovereignty and therefore beyond its jurisdiction.
But the Tribunal last year rejected China’s claim saying the case
involved interpretation and application of the Convention.
The Tribunal’s ruling also branded as unlawful China’s action of shooing
away Filipino fishermen from the Scarborough Shoal because the Shoal, along
with Gaven Reef, McKennan Reef, Johnson Reef, Cuarteron Reef and Fiery Cross
Reef are rocks that generate no entitlements to an exclusive economic zone.
China also violated the sovereign rights of the Philippines by
constructing artificial islands and interfering with Manila’s fishing and
petroleum exploration activities in areas that are within the Philippines’
200-mile exclusive economic zone.
“Having found that certain areas are within the exclusive economic zone
of the Philippines, the Tribunal found that China had violated the Philippines’
sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by interfering with Philippine
fishing and petroleum exploration, constructing artificial islands and failing
to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone,” the tribunal said
adding that “Chinese law enforcement vessels had unlawfully created a serious
risk of collision when they physically obstructed Philippine vessels.”
China’s large-scale reclamation and construction of artificial islands
had “caused severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated its
obligation to preserve and protect the fragile ecosystem and the habitat of
depleted, threatened or endangered species.”
“The Tribunal also found that Chinese authorities were aware that
Chinese fishermen have harvested endangered sea turtles, corals and giant clams
on a substantial scale in the South China Sea using methods that inflict severe
damage on the coral reef environment and had not fulfilled their obligations to
stop such activities,” it added.
Timeframe
on maritime entitlement
Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza said the
Philippine’s maritime entitlement will take time especially with uncertainty on
whether China will respect the decision or not.
“With this award, issued by a distinguished panel of impartial legal
experts, the rights and obligations of the parties under United Nations
Convention on the Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS) are now clarified,” Jardeleza said
at a press conference.
Jardeleza was part of the Philippine delegation that argued before the
Arbitral Tribunal.
“It has been the consistent view of the legal team that this award will
be a potent legal platform as our country moves forward to political and
diplomatic phase of our goal of effectively asserting our maritime entitlements
under UNCLOS,” he said.
Faith in
the rule of law
Philippine Supreme Court’s Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, part
of the delegation in the Hague and considered an expert in this territorial
dispute, said the Tribunal’s ruling has restored people’s faith in the rule of
law in peacefully resolving disputes between States and in rejecting the use or
threat of force in resolving them.
“The ruling also re-affirms UNCLOS as the Constitution for the oceans of
our planet,” he said.
UNCLOS is a treaty ratified by 167 States, including China and the
Philippines.
“The ruling applies the fundamental law of the sea principle that “land
dominates the sea,” that is, any claim to maritime zones must emanate from land
and can extend only to the limits prescribed under UNCLOS. No state can
claim almost an entire sea contrary to this fundamental principle and maritime
limits.”
He added that the ruling also re-affirms the wisdom of the Philippine
Constitution in renouncing war as an instrument of national policy, and in
adopting international law as part of the laws of Philippines.
“The ruling manifests the faithful compliance
by the Philippine Government to the Philippine Constitution, which mandates
that the “State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its exclusive
economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino
citizens.” By Lorenz Niel Santos
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