Carpio: China’s consent not needed to enforce South China Sea ruling

MANILA, Philippines — China does not need to recognize The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) for the Philippines to enforce sovereignty in the area, retired senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said.

China still refuses to honor The Hague’s ruling as “final” and “indisputable” as Beijing warned that it would respond to attempts to implement the ruling on the South China Sea arbitration.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that “China neither accepts nor recognizes it and will never accept any claim or action based on the award.”

In a landmark ruling on July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said there was no evidence that China had exercised exclusive control historically over the South China Sea and awarded the case to the Philippines.

During the 9th Virtual International Conference on South China Sea titled “Six Years After Tribunal Award: Developments in the South China (West Philippine) Sea” on Saturday, Carpio said waiting for recognition of the ruling is moot since China will never uphold the arbitral award.

“To exert or enforce the arbitral award, the Philippines does not need the consent of China. The arbitral award by itself affirms the PH can exclusively exploit the national resource in the EEZ (exclusive economic zone) without interference from other coastal states,” Carpio said.

China dismissed the landmark arbitral ruling that went against its expansive South China Sea claims as “nothing more than a piece of waste paper.”

Carpio said China called the award just a piece of paper since they did not participate in the arbitration but China’s position has been debunked by the tribunal.

Prior to the arbitral award, he said there was a legal question who owned the natural resources, including the oil and gas in the WPS, enclosed by China’s nine-dash line.

“The award provides that final and definitive legal clarity. Now, service contractor knows if it extracts… for China in WPS, the Philippines can sue the contractor for stealing oil and gas belonging to the Philippines,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo rejected Tuesday attempts to undermine the ruling, saying the tribunal’s findings are “indisputable.”

Manalo made the statement marking the 6th anniversary of the Award on the South China Sea Arbitration, the day that affirmed to the community of nations that the rule of law prevails, and that stability, peace and progress can only be attained when founded on a rules-based legal order on the oceans.

He said the arbitral award and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, are the twin anchors of the Philippines’ policy and actions on the WPS.