EU says arbitral ruling on South China Sea legally binding

MANILA, Philippines — On the seventh anniversary of the international arbitral ruling in The Hague invalidating China’s claim over almost the entire South China Sea, European Union member-countries and their embassies have lauded the landmark decision, which has also reaffirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements.

Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden issued a statement calling the arbitral award “a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings, and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties.”

The administration of then president Benigno Aquino III had filed the case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in 2013 contesting Beijing’s so-called nine-dash-line claim.

The late former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario led the Philippines in bringing the issue before the UN-backed tribunal to define the country’s maritime economic entitlements, effectively challenging China’s maritime claims.

The EU reiterated the fundamental importance of upholding the freedoms, rights and duties established in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in particular the freedoms of navigation and overflight.

“The EU is committed to secure, free and open maritime supply routes in the Indo-Pacific, in full compliance with international law, as reflected in UNCLOS, in the interest of all,” it said, expressing its support for the swift conclusion of talks on the adoption of a Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China that is fully compatible with UNCLOS.

In a landmark ruling on July 12, 2016, the PCA also stated that China has no lawful claim over areas determined by the tribunal to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

China vowed not to honor the ruling, which the Duterte administration set aside as part of his pivot to China