Incoming Philippine Minister Rules Out Bilateral Talks With China Before Tribunal Decision

The United States is not a claimant in the South China Sea dispute but says it has an interest in ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight in the area.

Proponents of this idea claim that China’s rejection would “undermine” the “rule-based worldwide system” and would put the peace and stability of the region “under immediate threat”.

The Paper points out that the Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility in the South China Sea Arbitration, issued by the Arbitral Tribunal on 29 October 2015, is full of errors in both the determination of fact and the application of Law. Do they have any claim to the Philippines or China’s territory? A decision is expected sometime within the next several weeks, but since there is no enforcement mechanism, its potential impact is unclear. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

“We’re willing to work with the new government of the Philippines to draw a new blueprint to lead bilateral relations back to the channel of healthy development”, Zhao said, drawing applause. “This is common sense in global law”, said former Egyptian Ambassador to China Mahmoud Allam.

China has responded warmly by vowing to treat the Philippines as a “partner of priority” in regional co-operation. This has pushed the smaller nations to embrace the United States’ pivot to the region to counter China’s influence, resulting in heightened confrontation between the two superpowers.

Asked if he thought China should accept the decision, Mr Brownlee said it was a matter for the Chinese government to decide, but “we believe they should”. India shares US concerns about Beijing’s rising ambitions in the seas of Asia. “Dropping the arbitration is tantamount to recognizing we are not free to chart our own foreign policy”.

Despite its island-building efforts and military buildup in the South China Sea, China has shown some signs of restraint in not expanding its claims or vigorously seeking to eject other countries’ militaries from islands it claims.

The attempt to plant the flag comes after Mr. Duterte pledged during his election campaign to do the same, but on China’s man-made islands in the Spratlys, using a jet ski.

Meanwhile, Lu said China looks forward to exchanging views with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) during the two-day ministers’ meeting in China’s Kunming province that started Monday.

Philippine defense and military officials declined to comment on the incident.