Albert del Rosario
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should be cautious of China’s supposed plan to use the proposed Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea as a legal cover for its sweeping claims in the disputed sea region and “undermine” the 2016 arbitral ruling, former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has warned.
“It should not surprise us to know that China intends to use the [COC] to legitimize its claim,” Del Rosario said in an online forum hosted by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for Peace and Development last week.
“As such, the [COC] is a double-edged sword: it can either help implement the arbitral ruling or it can undermine it,” he said.
The retired ambassador, an ardent critic of President Duterte’s defeatist policy on the West Philippine Sea issue, surmised that China would flex its diplomatic muscles to infuse the COC with provisions recognizing its “nine-dash line” policy.
China’s 180-degree turn
The international arbitral court has already invalidated Beijing’s such ownership claim in almost the entire South China Sea as it recognized Manila’s sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.
According to Del Rosario, China’s 180-degree turn in welcoming the adoption of a COC after the Philippines won the arbitral award was proof of its plan to use the agreement on the settlement of territorial disputes to protect its own interests.
He pointed out that China was actually “indifferent, even opposed” to the previous suggestion for claimant-countries to have a legally binding mechanism.
“A [COC] that supplants or weakens the 2016 ruling would be prejudicial to the Philippines and the rule of law in the international order,” Del Rosario said.
“China’s manipulation of the [COC] is nothing new. Historically, China used [it] as a tool to promote its expansive ambitions in the South China Sea,” he noted.
He also urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to be “collectively vigilant” by guarding against China’s attempt to utilize the COC in its favor.
‘Not a single inch’
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., for his part, on Tuesday said the Philippines had not surrendered “a single inch of territory” in the West Philippine Sea despite Beijing’s continued aggression in the South China Sea.
At the House budget hearing on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Locsin said the Philippines has fortified international support for the 2016 arbitral award despite criticisms that Mr. Duterte has abandoned the ruling in exchange for warmer ties with China.
“We have not surrendered a single inch of territory. Not by word or deed have we weakened our right to everything in the West Philippine Sea. And without inviting pity by asking, we achieved an international consensus that the right is with us and might cannot ever take it away,” he said.
The foreign secretary pointed out that he had stressed in his various engagements the Philippines’ vision of the South China Sea as a sea of peace, security, stability and prosperity.
“[The] DFA is proud to say: just because we have differences does not mean we have to fight over everything, but we will when we must,” he said. INQ