MANILA, Philippines — The country’s former top diplomat yesterday reminded China, a modern “Goliath” that he said is pursuing its own three Bs – bribery, brawn and bluster – to achieve its wrongful objective and force its dominance in the region and beyond, that history is unkind to other Goliaths in the past and Beijing would suffer the same fate.
Former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said China’s intentions, declarations and actions are to force a doctrine of dominance by pursuing a strategy of employing bribery, brawn and bluster to achieve its wrongful objective of demonstrating that might trumps right.
China rejected and vilified the arbitral outcome that is now an integral part of international law.
After unlawfully constructing and militarizing artificial islands in the South China Sea, China tried to lobby the arbitral tribunal.
Del Rosario noted that China selectively utilized aspects of international law to its advantage while rejecting those portions which are not and accused former International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) president Shunji Yanai of political bias simply because he is Japanese.
“It is as well about the very Goliath, with its sheer bullying tactics, that reminds us of other Goliaths in the past. We are also reminded about the lack of kindness that history has shown for similar creations,” Del Rosario said at the launching of the book “South China Sea Arbitration for Understanding the Awards and for Debating” authored by Dr. Alfredo Robles Jr. at De La Salle University (DLSU).
Former president Benigno Aquino III, whose leadership resulted in the arbitral outcome, also attended the book launch.
The former top diplomat noted that the government’s decision of shelving the arbitral victory is “to avoid China’s displeasure and ire with the expectation of significant amounts of investments and aid for our Build, Build, Build infrastructure program.”
“It is about our additional silver platter offerings to Goliath of our country’s strategic assets which would effectively result in providing a stronger position of domination against the Filipino people,” Del Rosario stressed.
The Philippines’ allies are the ones enforcing the tribunal outcome and upholding the rule of law on their own, “disappointingly without the Philippines,” according to Del Rosario.
“For continuing to sail their ships and fly their aircraft in Freedom of Navigation and Overflight Operations, the people of the Philippines salute our friends from the United States, Japan, Australia, Great Britain, France and others,” he said.
“In terms of allowing our government to acquiesce to the dictates of Goliath, it is about losing entirely what is most important to our people. It is about the ignominy of losing our self-respect,” he added.
Del Rosario was the secretary and part of the legal team which defended the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea issue before an international tribunal based in The Hague.
The case filed by the Philippines against China before a United Nations-backed tribunal was a last resort, a lawful and lasting resolution to the South China Sea disputes after all other peaceful means had been fully exhausted.
In a landmark ruling on July 12, 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) found no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to a “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea and ruled that Beijing had breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines, which brought the case.
The court also ruled that many purported islands controlled by China are, in fact, not islands, but instead reefs or rocks, which do not generate territorial rights.
China still refused to honor the ruling and raised a serious accusation against the judges of the tribunal of taking bribes from the Philippines in exchange for invalidating Beijing’s expansive and excessive claims in the South China Sea.
Despite its militarization of the South China Sea raising regional tensions, China declared it is “always a builder of world peace, contributor to global development and defender of international order.” – With Jaime Laude