China released this photo of a vegetable garden in Fiery Cross which the Philippines says is a reef which cannot sustain human habitation.
As China continues its massive reclamation and construction in areas surrounding the seven reefs that it occupies in the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea, the Philippines can only watch helplessly.
The Philippine government’s protests through media now sounds like a broken record.
The United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea will start the hearing of the Philippine suit against China’s nine dash line map which encroached on territories of the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam on July 7.
But even a favorable decision by the U.N Arbitral Tribunal, which is expected next year, won’t bind China which has refused to participate in the legal process.
Pres. Aquino and Pres. Xi Jinping, Beijing Nov 2014The Position Paper of China on the case filed by the Philippines with the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal showed the wide gap between the two countries as regards their conflicting claims on th South China Sea islands, reefs and rocks.
The meeting between President Aquino and Chinese President Xi Jinping may have lowered the tension but the two countries are really far apart in attitude and perspective.
Example:
Before the meeting of Leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Beijing last month, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said their bringing unilaterally the territorial conflict with China before the U.N. court is not an unfriendly act.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario: his policy is to ‘shame” China.Statements coming from Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario betray helplessness over the situation in the South China Sea.
The Philippines is losing the battle that he led the country to wage against China.
Yesterday Del Rosario said that the Philippines will ask the United Nations Arbitral Court to hasten the resolution of the 2013 suit it filed questioning the legality of China’s nine-dash line map in the light of the latter’s expansion activities on islands they are occupying in the disputed areas of the Spratlys in the South China Sea.
Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza had said that they expect the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea to rule on both jurisdiction and merit of the Philippine claim “between 2015 to 2016.” China has refused to participate in the Philippine case.
There are two positive things that resulted in the ongoing standoff in the Scarborough Shoal.
One is the decision of President Aquino recall the appointment of family friend Domingo Lee as ambassador to China and two, the raising of the conflicting territorial claims to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea has been accelerated.
With the withdrawal of Lee’s appointment, the next question is, who will Aquino send to fill the long-vacant post in Beijing?
Three names have been mentioned.
BasilioThe first one is recently-retired Erlinda Basilio. A career foreign service officer, Basilio’s last position was foreign affairs undersecretary for policy under the Aquino administration, a position that she also held under the Arroyo administration. Briefly, while waiting for now Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to assume the position, she served as acting foreign secretary.
Basilio’s calm demeanor masks a certain toughness that is needed in dealing with a bully like China. Basilio is a veteran in diplomatic pressures. She is not easily intimidated.
CruzAnother name mentioned is Luis T. Cruz, who is now our ambassador to South Korea.
Also a career officer,Cruz served as consul general in the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou, which he opened in 1997.
Cruz has the gift of “speaking his truth quietly and clearly” which is important in dealing with a pugnacious adversary.
Another name being floated is Chito Sta. Romana, former American Broadcasting Company news bureau in Beijing. He has retired from ABC and is now based in the Philippines.
Scarborough shoal at low tide by Adel Rosario from Wikipedia
Del RosarioForeign Secretary Albert del Rosario is in New York now.
The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday released his statement saying,” In pursuing a peaceful settlement of the Scarborough Shoal issue, we fully intend to humbly invite our Chinese friends to join us in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).”
ITLOS was established to adjudicate conflict over the interpretation and implementation of the United Nations Convention of the Law which defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans.
Del Rosario said, “The purpose of the exercise will be to ascertain which of us has sovereign rights over the waters surrounding Scarborough Shoal where Chinese ships are currently engaging in illegal activities within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). “
