Philippines urged for 2nd arbitration case as China recasts dispute

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government should jolt China into dialing down its maritime aggression by lodging a new arbitration case against them — a move that former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said may eventually “bury” Beijing’s claim of historic rights to nearly the entire South China Sea.

While China refuses to honor the 2016 ruling that dismissed its nine-dash line claim, filing a second case would allow the Philippines to demand reparations for Chinese ships’ destruction of Philippine vessels and curb further aggression, Carpio said in an interview with ANC’s "Headstart" on Tuesday, September 17.

“The rule is once the arbitral case is filed, the parties should not aggravate the dispute. And if the [Chinese vessels] continue to ram our vessels, that will be a disrespect to the tribunal, and the tribunal will be hard on China,” the retired Supreme Court justice said.

China commands the world’s largest naval force and could be waiting to simply damage all of the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) vessels in the contested waters “so they will be out of commission,” Carpio said. 

“We are running out of options. If we continue this way, we will run out of our vessels, they will all be rammed,” the retired SC justice added.

The Philippines on Sunday, September 15, pulled out the BRP Teresa Magbanua from its five-month deployment at Escoda Shoal. Authorities said the ship had to return to port due to bad weather and the need to evacuate its sick personnel, dispelling claims that the move had anything to do with the country’s recent talks with China. 

Lack of supplies due to bad weather and Chinese vessels’ routine attempts to block deliveries forced Filipino crew members there to survive on rainwater and rice porridge for three weeks, the PCG said. Four crew members were transported in stretchers on Sunday due to dehydration and stomach ailments. 

PCG Spokersperson Jay Tarriela said the situation was “complicated” by the structural damages the BRP Teresa Magbanua sustained from being deliberately rammed by Chinese Coast Guard vessels on August 31. The incident left a man-sized hole in the vessel.

BRP Teresa Magbanua had been stationed at Escoda Shoal since April to thwart China’s alleged reclamation activities there. It was a deployment that Beijing fiercely opposed as it claims territorial rights over the feature well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.  

Maritime expert Ray Powell believes the dead corals discovered by Filipino scientists in Escoda Shoal were potentially dumped by China to artificially raise the level of the feature “to somehow build a case later that it is an actual territory of China.” 

“You’re not supposed to be able to change the legal standing of any feature in the South China Sea simply by raising its level artificially. But that doesn't really matter in China's internal narrative which they use quite aggressively,” the maritime expert said in an interview with OneNews on Monday, September 16.

China’s narrative warfare

Powell pointed out that Escoda Shoal was not included in the 2016 arbitral ruling and was relatively insignificant until recently, when Beijing objected strongly to the presence of BRP Teresas Magbanua.

Since the PCG vessel was anchored at Escoda Shoal, China has ramped up its aggressive activities in the contested waters and constantly referred to Xianbin Jao (Escoda Shoal) as its territory. 

Despite holding “frank” and “candid” talks last week on their maritime dispute, Beijing and Manila remain in a deadlock as both sides refuse to budge on their territorial claims over Escoda Shoal. 

“China looks for a pretext to escalate all the time,” Powell said. 

“If they have an opportunity to escalate and normalize a new level of aggression they'll take it. What does it is that it shocks the system at first and then lesser aggression becomes normal,” he added. 

Carpio said the Philippine government should not be limited to engaging China diplomatically, especially as Beijing continues to engage in “double talk” – or language that is intended to make people believe something that is not true.

The magistrate said the government should “use all the possible means of defending our maritime zones,” including the filing of a new arbitration case, especially as China’s “number one public intellectual” has publicly admitted its impact on China.

“He said we should prevent the Philippines from filing another arbitral case, because he is afraid that if another arbitral award is handed down against China, it will bury forever the Chinese claim to the South China Sea under the 10-dash line,” Carpio added.

He said international community’s mere presence in the South China Sea offsets China’s persistent dismissal of the 2016 arbitral ruling.

“The US and its allies are sailing in the West Philippine Sea, and when they sail, they tell China, we can do this because of the arbitral award,” Carpio said.

“So that is, in fact, enforcement of the arbitral award. People don't realize that,” he added.