Philippines welcomes position of 3 nations vs. China over sea dispute

The Philippines on Friday thanked three European nations for calling out China’s massive claims in the South China Sea.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Wednesday told the United Nations that Beijing’s “historic rights” over the South China Sea, a portion of which Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea, had no basis in international law and contradicted the 2016 arbitration ruling that nullified such claims.

The Philippines took to an international court its maritime dispute with China, but Beijing refused to recognize the ruling invalidating its excessive claims over whole sea.

“Nagpapasalamat po kami sa mga bansang ito dahil hindi naman po mabubura iyong panalo natin sa arbitral tribunal na iyan na nagsasabi na wala pong legal na basehan iyong kini-claim ng China,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference in Baguio City.

Roque also said the decision of The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration is binding on the Philippines and China.

“Hindi kinikilala iyan ng Tsina pero dahil siya po ay partido sa UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, ibinigay po niya ang kaniyang consent na i-settle ang lahat ng dispute sa pamamagitan ng dispute settlement procedure na nakasaad po sa UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said.

The Philippines in July publicly called on China to comply with the ruling, which was immediately dismissed by Beijing as “illegal and invalid.”

Despite the dispute, the Philippines’ ties with China have warmed under President Rodrigo Duterte, who reached out to Chinese officials after taking office in 2016 to push for increased trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.  

Duterte has repeatedly indicated that he would not provoke China into war in the West Philippine Sea as this would only result in a massacre of government troops -- a position criticized by some opposition leaders. —LBG, GMA News