Tag: UNCLOS

Unable to defend The Hague junket, Lacierda turns catty

Published by Ellen on July 9, 2015

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda was being catty when he dismissed as “KSP” lawyer Harry Roque’s criticism of the huge Philippine delegation to the hearing of the U.N. Arbitral Tribunal of the case filed by the Philippines against China in The Hague, Netherlands.

Roque raised a valid issue.

He said: “With only three oralists scheduled to make submissions before the Tribunal, why is it that we have a delegation of at least 35? I say at least because the number does not include our foreign counsels and their staff. I believe the correct number of our delegation should be at least 50. That’s 50 business class tickets and 50 de luxe rooms at five-star hotels in very expensive The Hague!”

Lacierda did not refute Roque’s numbers so I suppose the latter’s information was correct. From news reports from The Hague I have only the following names:

What the Philippine U.N. case vs China is not

Published by Ellen on July 6, 2015

Contrary to what many think that the Philippines case against China in the Arbitral Court of the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will clarify who owns what or which of the reefs in the Spratlys, it won’t.

That’s because that is not in the scope of the U.N. Arbitral Tribunal where the Philippines filed the case. The UN Arbitral Tribunal only deals with the interpretation and application of UNCLOS.

It does not decide on sovereignty over disputed features in the sea.

Territorial disputes are the domain of the International Court of Justice or ICJ.

PH and China dispute to continue despite U.N. Tribunal case

Published by Ellen on July 5, 2015

By Ellen T Tordesillas and Tessa Jamandre, VERA Files

Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague. The Arbitral Tribunal starts hearing today the case filed by the Philippines vs China in this building. — Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague. The Arbitral Tribunal starts hearing tomorrow the case filed by the Philippines vs China in this building.

Despite the presence of a high-level Philippine team at the hearing of the Philippines’ case against China before the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) this week, the issue of who owns the contested islands in the South China Sea will remain unresolved.

That’s because the Philippine team won’t be arguing its territorial claims, which are not under the jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague in the Netherlands.

“We are very confident that we can convince the court that this is not about ownership of land,” said former solicitor general now Supreme Court justice Francis Jardeleza, who is part of the Philippine team.

Instead, the Philippines merely wants the Tribunal, which interprets UNCLOS, to invalidate China’s 9-dash line claim over the South China Sea.

Should PH seek provisional measures from U.N. vs China

Published by Ellen on June 30, 2015

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.

What is left for the Philippines to do then?

Vietnam delivered when the Philippines needed it most

Published by Ellen on December 14, 2014

Alliance forged.Pres. Aquino and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Malacanang May 2014. — Alliance forged. Pres. Aquino and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Malacanang May 2014.

It means a lot to the Philippines that Vietnam submitted a Position Paper to the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations that is handling the complaint filed by the Philippines against China on the conflict in the South China Sea.

Probably so as not to further antagonize China, with whom the Philippines has rekindled relations marked by the meeting of President Aquino with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs in reaction to the statement of Vietnam was sober.

The statement, released three days after Vietnam made public the Dec. 4 submission to the U.N. Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, said: “PH has had close consultations with Vietnam, bilaterally as well as within ASEAN, on claims and issues in the South China Sea. We now understand that Vietnam has made its position on our arbitration case known to the Tribunal. This is not wholly unexpected, since Vietnam naturally seeks to protect its own interests. What we understand, however, consistent with our previous discussions, is that the Vietnam’s basic position largely accords with ours with regards to the South China Sea.

Vietnam supports PH position: UN tribunal has jurisdiction on South China Sea dispute

Published by Ellen on December 13, 2014

Water cannon fight in Paracels between China and Vietnam last May.

By Ellen T. Tordesillas, VERA Files

The Philippine case against China’s nine-dash line before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal gained support from Vietnam in a statement it submitted to the court in The Hague on Thursday.

The Vietnam Foreign Ministry said the tribunal has jurisdiction to settle disputes concerning the interpretation of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China’s position paper shows wide gap with PH stand

Published by Ellen on December 10, 2014

Pres. Aquino and Pres. Xi Jinping, Beijing Nov 2014

The 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.

China: UN tribunal has no jurisdiction on case filed by PH

Published by Ellen on December 7, 2014

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

China insisted Sunday that the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal has no jurisdiction on the complaint filed by the Philippines seeking to declare null and void the nine-dash line on China’s maps.

China’s 27-page position paper, posted on the website of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came eight days before the Dec. 15 deadline given by the U.N. court for Beijing to answer the Philippine complaint filed on Jan. 22, 2013.

With or without China’s reply, the U.N. court will start the hearings.

Will China withdraw from UNCLOS if UN court decides in favor of PH?

Published by Ellen on December 10, 2013

The possibility of China pulling out of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has been mentioned in informal discussions among foreign affairs experts and observers but it was the first time that a Chinese scholar said it in public.

Shen Dingli, speaking to reporters after his speech in a forum “What is to be done?: Resolving Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia” organized by the Angara Centre for Law and Economics at Marriott Hotel last Thursday, said it was a mistake for China to have joined the 1982 UNCLOS, “an international treaty that provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world’s seas and oceans to ensure the conservation and equitable usage of resources and the marine environment and to ensure the protection and preservation of the living resources of the sea.”

UNCLOS also addresses such other matters as sovereignty, rights of usage in maritime zones, and navigational rights, the UN website states.

“We should not have joined UNCLOS,” Shen said.

After China snub, what now?

Published by Ellen on February 3, 2013

By Romel R. Bagares Just as pundits have predicted, China soon announced it is not taking part in the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Philippines…