Ex-Ambassador Cuisia: Philippines must keep pressure on China

Former Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia on Sunday urged the Philippines to continuously put pressure on China through the United Nations General Assembly, saying diplomatic "protest is futile."

In an interview with GMA News Online, Cuisia lamented that President Rodrigo Duterte did not make a "follow up"  at the UNGA when he made the statement invoking the Philippines' victory in the 2016 arbitral ruling.  

Former Philippine Ambassador to United States Jose Cuisia tells GMA News Online that China was "duplicitous and deceitful" to breach the 2012 brokered agreement for both Beijing and Manila to simultaneously pullout its vessels from Scarborough shoal. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/W5fDQfPk8q

— Consuelo Marquez (@maconsuelodp) May 16, 2021

Cuisia underscored that putting pressure on China through the UNGA is needed because diplomatic protests are futile since China just dumps them in the "wastebasket."

"They ignored this (diplomatic protests), we have to go to United Nations and make our case and get support from all the countries who respect the rule of law," he said.

In doing so, he added, "China looks like an international rogue country that is not respecting the international law."

Cuisia also recalled that the Aquino administration had filed about 60 diplomatic protests against China.

In a speech on Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed doubts on whether the international body can help the Philippines in asserting its claims in the West Philippine Sea. 

"When was the United Nations of any use? They're all papers. They're clueless up there," Duterte said in Filipino.

But Cuisia insisted that unlike diplomatic protests, seeking help from the UN General Assembly will allow other countries to pressure China and support the Philippines in its territorial claims.

For instance, Cuisia said Nicaragua kept pressuring the US through the UN body over the American-backed rebel Contra attacks against Nicaragua territory.

"Nicaragua keeps bringing up every opportunity they have. They brought it up to the UN. After 10 years, the US finally accepted Nicaragua. They (US) paid Nicaragua a $500-million settlement," the former diplomat said.

Furthermore, Cuisia urged Duterte to "not squander" the 2016 arbitral victory, which invalidated China's massive claims over the South China Sea. 

"Both China and Philippines are members of UNCLOS so China is supposed to respect that arbitral ruling, yet our own President squanders the victory away, which is unfortunate," he pointed out.

"He is our President, he should not be squandering  away our victory [over] China," he added.

In his previous Talk to the Nation, Duterte downplayed the country's 2016 arbitral win over China, saying it is a scrap of paper fit to be thrown in the trash. 

Previously, Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque claimed that the continued Chinese presence in disputed waters will not invalidate the Philippines' legal claims in the West Philippine Sea. —LBG/KG, GMA News