China says ICC should avoid being used as ‘political tool’ amid PHL withdrawal

China has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to zone out of politics after President Rodrigo Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the tribunal in the face of an inquiry on deaths being linked to his war on drugs.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang renewed Beijing’s call for The Hague-based tribunal to respect the sovereignty of nations especially on dealing with problems such as illegal drugs.

“China always maintains that the ICC should respect the sovereignty of nations, act cautiously and avoid being used as a political tool,” Lu said in response to a query seeking China’s comment on the Philippines’ decision to withdraw its membership in the court.

“China believes that a sovereign country has the right to say no to political manipulation under the cloak of law,” he said.

China is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

Beijing again praised Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign with Lu saying it “creates the sound environment for the Philippines’ economic development and its people’s peaceful life.

Lu also said the campaign had “full approval and wide support” from the Filipino people.

“The international community should give more understanding and support to those efforts instead of pointing fingers and casting blames,” the Chinese official said.

In withdrawing the Philippines’ membership in the ICC, Duterte cited “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks” against him and his administration and the alleged attempt of the ICC prosecutor to place him under the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

He said the ICC cannot exercise jurisdiction on the communication filed by lawyer Jude Sabio in April last year, arguing the Rome Statute is not enforceable in the Philippines because it was not published in the government’s publication or commercial newspaper.

Duterte declared the exit from the tribunal roughly a month after the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor announced that it would begin its preliminary examination on the alleged extrajudicial killings associated with the government’s intensified anti-illegal drugs campaign, which kicked off on July 1, 2016.

The President has since urged other nations to get out of the ICC. — RSJ, GMA News