The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Friday said “some outsiders” who are not from Asia are trying to sow discord between the two countries to serve their own geopolitical interests in the region.
In a statement, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said that “in Asian culture, outsiders should promote peace and facilitate dialogue,” but such outsiders apparently “do not behave this way.”
Huang questioned the true intention of these outsiders, even as he alleged that these countries “try every means to fan the flames and drive a wedge” between Beijing and Manila.
Huang did not name who these outsiders were, but his statement posted on his Facebook page came after the United States, Canada, Australia and France expressed support for the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China on the South China Sea.
These countries, in backing the Philippines, cited the July 12, 2016 Arbitral Award rendered by the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines, which invalidated China’s massive claims over the South China Sea and upheld Manila’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea, as well as the international law under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
China has refused to recognize the validity of the UN tribunal’s decision.
“Do they really care about the welfare of the Filipino people and regional peace and stability? I am afraid not. Rather, they have their own geopolitical interests to serve,” Huang said.
The Chinese diplomat also said that Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his recent visit to the Philippines, “stressed that China and the Philippines should make joint efforts to be good neighbors, good relatives, and good partners.”
“[A]nd the only right path for the bilateral relations is to adhere to good-neighborliness and friendship and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. Both sides have agreed to properly handle differences from a strategic and overall perspective, putting them in a proper place in bilateral relations,” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said that the dispute on the South China Sea should not just be the only thing to talk about, although he will make an effort to resolve the issue.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo made a strong statement on the sixth anniversary of the arbitral award in favor of the Philippines, saying it was “final” and “indisputable.”
“The best way to settle disputes between neighbors is through patient and cordial dialog to find a win-win solution,” Huang said.
But China had been advancing its activities in parts of the West Philippines Sea that have impinged on territory claimed by the Philippines.
On Friday, the Office of the Solicitor General expressed strong support for the position of the Department of Foreign Affairs to assert the country’s maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea.
“The Office of the Solicitor General strongly supports the position of the DFA that the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the 2016 arbitral award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in favor of the Philippines shall be the anchor of all Philippine policies and actions in relation to all maritime right issues in the WPS,” Solicitor-General Menardo Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.
Guevarra made the statement after Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo earlier declared that “the Award and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are the twin anchors of the Philippines’ policy and actions on the West Philippine Sea.”
Manalo’s statement was issued on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the July 12, 2016 PCA award in favor of the claims asserted by the Philippine government.
The DFA chief stressed that the “UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.”
“There is no recourse to general international law on matters comprehensively covered by the UNCLOS,” he said.
“Compliance with UNCLOS, which represents a delicate balance of the rights and obligations of all states parties in its entirety, is key to ensuring global and regional peace and the fair and sustainable use of the oceans,” he added.
Manalo said the award handed down by the PCA “not only sets reason and right in the South China Sea, but is an inspiration for how matters should be considered—through reason and right—by states facing similarly challenging circumstances.”
He noted that the award “upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its exclusive economic zone” and “affirmed that certain actions within the Philippines’ EEZ (exclusive economic zone) violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights and were thus unlawful; that large-scale reclamation and construction of artificial islands caused severe environmental harm in violation of international conventions; that the large-scale harvesting of endangered marine species damaged the marine ecosystem; and that actions taken since the commencement of the arbitration had aggravated the disputes.”
The Philippines filed its arbitration case against China before the PCA in the Hague in January 2013.
On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled: “The Tribunal concluded that, as between the Philippines and China, there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources, in excess of the rights provided for by the Convention, within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line.”
Reacting to Manalo’s statement, China reiterated its position that the arbitral award rendered by the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea case in favor of the Philippines is “null and void” and “violates international law.”
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Wang Wenbin, spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry, said that “China neither accepts nor recognizes it and will never accept any claim or action based on the award.”
The United States, among other countries, supported the Philippines’ position by citing the same arbitral ruling as well as the UNCLOS.
