The Chinese are taught from grade school that the entire South China Sea is theirs. Textbooks carry an “ancient map” with nine dashes in a U-shape denoting the outer limits of the sea, skirting the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, some islands of Indonesia, and Vietnam. Thirteenth-century-old, the Chinese map purportedly proves that “we were there first.” […]
June 25, 2012: Henry Bensurto of the Department of Foreign Affairs presentation of Philippine position. Download PDF: Bensurto_Presentation
The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), launched by the Institute of International Strategic Studies (IISS) in 2002, brings together Asia-Pacific defense ministers and experts from around the world to discuss regional security challenges and opportunities for cooperation. The 12th SLD convened in Singapore from May 31 to June 2. IISS Director General and Chief Executive John Chipman […]
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that China’s mapping authority, Sinomaps Press, issued a new map of the country showing 80% of the South China Sea as internal Chinese water. What’s at issue? Each year, more than half of the world’s annual merchant tonnage passes through the South China Sea as well as a third […]
While the attention of the Philippines has been focused on its conflict with Taiwan over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard on May 9, little notice has been given to the arrival, just the day before, of three Chinese naval ships at the Ayungin Reef (Second Thomas Shoal), the gateway […]
Nine dashes, five judges, two contestants. It sounds like a reality television show. In fact, it is the rather obscure — but very important — beginning of a process to delineate fiercely disputed Asian maritime borders according to the rule of law, rather than the law of the jungle. The nine dashes belong to China. […]
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has said that even if the Philippines wins in the arbitral dispute it has lodged against China on the West Philippine Sea, the decision would most likely go unenforced. In a speech he delivered before graduating law students of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Carpio noted that […]
MANILA, Philippines – China’s 9-dashed line claim to almost the entire West Philippine Sea violates the the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), according to Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. Carpio, in a speech before graduates of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila on May 18, said Beijing’s claim takes away […]
By Hon. Justice Antonio T. Carpio [Note: The following is the Commencement Speech delivered by Justice Antonio T. Carpio on 18 May 2013 before the Graduating Class of the Graduate School of Law of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.] As life-long students of the law, we ask: in the international sphere, is there a […]
Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries – but a recent upsurge in tension has sparked concern that the area is becoming a flashpoint with global consequences. What is the argument about? It is a dispute over territory and sovereignty over ocean areas and the Paracels and the Spratlys […]