PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that the Philippines can only take so much of China’s continued refusal to accept an arbitration award that debunked China’s “rather absurd” nine-dash line claims to almost the entire South China Sea.
“They say they will not honor it [the arbitration award], but we can only take so much. We cannot take a slap every day,” said Duterte at the opening of the Davao International Container Terminal (DICT).
Duterte said he will make it clear to Beijing that bilateral negotiations would keep within the ambit of the UN arbitral tribunal ruling that Manila won last July 12.
“There will be a time that I have to make a stand. I also have to be clear to China that their claim in disputed waters is not acceptable,” he added.
Duterte made these statements after he received intelligence reports that China had recently brought in new barges to disputed areas in the Scarborough Shoal, wondering aloud if there is any new construction about to take place there.
“I received an intelligence report last night. If it continues to build up, new barges will be coming in and new construction would take place,” he said.
Duterte reiterated that while he does not intend to raise the issue of the ongoing territorial row before the Asean, China must also realize that the country won’t move outside of the four corners of the arbitration ruling that the country won last July.
“I hope China realizes that we went out of our way, we walked the extra mile to keep the peace,” Duterte said, as he credited his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, for securing the UN tribunal ruling.
“You can be very sure, eyeball-to-eyeball, [to China] let us not talk about anything else. Let’s talk about [The Hague] arbitration.”
On Monday, Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said that while China cannot accept the arbitration ruling as a means to move its already tense relations with the country, the Asian giant is willing to move forward to enhance ties.
“We cannot accept the arbitration award but we do look forward to talk to the Philippines bilaterally of the troubles we have. But right now, we need to change our focus from our differences to common interests so we can concentrate on cooperation that will benefit our two peoples,” Zhao told reporters.
“The Filipinos are always in the hearts of Chinese people. We have been friends, partners even relatives for a thousand years despite the troubles we have,” he added.
Duterte however, doubted the sincerity of the Chinese on the territorial dispute after the new intelligence reports.
“The problem is that we do not know the intentions of China. What do they want? If they continue to build structures within contested islands, it will be a source of conflict,” he said.
I have nothing against China now, but I won’t intend to raise issue in the Asean because if I do, it will be convoluted,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Department said that Chinese and Southeast Asian leaders will try to establish an emergency diplomatic hotline and adopt a joint statement on a Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) to prevent armed clashes in the disputed waters as products of the upcoming Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) summit meeting at Vientiane, Laos next week.
“We hope that the Code of Unplanned encounters succeed … it’s one way of deescalating tensions in the region,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria De Vega said.
“It’s among our aspirations to have a code of conduct because it’s long in the negotiating table. We hope some things will happen.”
Earlier, the Asean together with Chinaforged a deal under the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea” signed at Phnom Penh in 2012, which urged countries to respect the commitment to the freedom of navigation without resorting to violence as provided by international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Philippines will host the 50th Founding Anniversary of the Association of South East Asian Nations as the country receives the Asean chairmanship at Laos.
A maritime expert on Friday cautioned the administration against allowing a provisional fishing deal with China to undermine the spirit of the law to allocate marine resources and the benefits of Unclos.
University of the Philippines Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea director and professor Jay Batongbacal also said the Philippines should be cautious that the UN ruling will not be waived due to the planned fishing agreement over the West Philippine Sea.
“Any provisional agreement needs to be approached with an abundance of caution to ensure that it does not create any implied waiver of the Philippines’ rights under international law,” Batongbacal said in a phone interview.
Batongbacal was reacting to the statement of Department of Foreign Affairs chief Perfecto Yasay that the Philippines would want to forge a provisional agreement with China on fishing rights in the West Philippine Sea.
This despite the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling invalidating China’s excessive nine-dash line claims over parts of the Philippines exclusive economic miles in the West Philippine Sea.
“While such agreements are recognized as a practical necessity in case of disputes, it is important to ensure that they are not used to subvert the spirit and intent of the law to allocate marine resources and the benefits to the Philippines as a coastal State under Unclos,” Batongbacal said.