MANILA, Philippines – Spot the differences. Exhibit A: “The case before you is of the utmost importance to the Philippines, to the region, and to the world.” Exhibit B: “The case we filed before the arbitral tribunal with respect to our dispute with China concerns China and the Philippines alone.” “Exhibit A” is a quote […]

Earlier this month, a long-awaited decision by an international tribunal in The Hague ruled unanimously that there is no legal basis for Beijing’s “nine-dash line,” claiming sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea by ignoring the exclusive economic zones of neighboring nations (including the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore) confirmed under […]

Now the country needs quiet negotiations in invoking rule of law THE Philippines won in almost all its submissions against China in the South China Sea award by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNLOS) Arbitration Tribunal, including the main issues that compelled the Philippines to urgently file the arbitration complaint, namely: […]

LONDON: A British MP has complained about appearing in a video promoting Beijing’s claims in the disputed South China Sea, saying she was “deeply concerned” that her words had been misrepresented. Catherine West, a foreign affairs spokeswoman from the main opposition Labor Party specializing in the Asia-Pacific region, is briefly quoted in the video. The […]

The U.S. and other coastal nations could lose millions of square nautical miles of ocean that are now in their exclusive economic zones. The loss would be an indirect result of an arbitration panel’s ruling on China’s dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea. Largely overlooked in the tribunal’s July 12 decision was […]

The bilateral relationship between South Korea and China has advanced rapidly since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992. But the two nations are still sharply divided on many matters. A case in point is how the two nations see the July 12th decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on the South China […]

Printer-friendly version The ruling by the Annex VII Tribunal on the South China Sea maritime dispute between the Philippines and China lays down an unprecedented legal benchmark for disputes in the region. The unanimous decision of the five-member Tribunal addresses in detail all of the claims made by the Philippines. Only one claim was dismissed […]

Two weeks after the arbitral tribunal of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea issued its award to the Philippines, China continues to seek to undermine the legitimacy on the tribunal, making charges bordering on the slanderous against the judges concerned. While affirming “China’s non-acceptance and non-recognition of the so-called award,” the […]

ANALYSTS have criticized the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for doing China’s bidding, which was championed by Cambodia, China’s agent country in Asean, to disregard the UNCLOS Tribunal’s landmark ruling granting the Philippine petition against China’s takeover of the Philippine territories in the South China/West Philippine Sea and ordering China to stop its aggressive […]