BEIJING: China will disregard any findings by an international tribunal on a case brought by the Philippines over disputed islands in the South China Sea, Beijing said yesterday after the court decided to consider the action.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration — which is more than a century old and based in The Hague — ruled on Thursday that it did have jurisdiction on the issue.
Manila insists the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the Philippines and China have both ratified, should be used to resolve the bitter territorial row over isolated reefs and islets, which has triggered growing international alarm.
But China has refused to participate in the proceedings, arguing that the case is about sovereignty and the court cannot rule on it.
“We will not participate and we will not accept the arbitration,” Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters in Beijing.
“The ruling or the result of arbitration will not affect China’s position,” he added. “It won’t affect China’s sovereignty rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea. Our rights will not be undermined.”
However, the court said in a statement that in “reviewing the claims submitted by the Philippines, the tribunal has rejected the argument” by China that the “dispute is actually about sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and therefore beyond the tribunal’s jurisdiction”.
Instead, the court ruled the case reflects “disputes between the two states concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention” — something which falls within its remit.
China insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which about a third of all the world’s traded oil passes.
The disputed waters — claimed in part by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Brunei — have also become the stage for a tussle for regional dominance between Beijing and Washington, the world’s two largest economic and military powers. Following a standoff between Chinese ships and the weak Filipino navy in 2012, China took control of a rich fishing ground called Scarborough Shoal that is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
China has also undertaken giant reclamation activities, raising fears it will use artificial islands to build new military outposts close to the Philippines and other claimants.
The tribunal — set up in 1899 to resolve international disputes between countries — stressed on Thursday its ruling did not yet go to the heart of the merits of Manila’s case, which was first filed in 2013.
A new hearing will now be held behind closed doors in The Hague and a final ruling is not expected until next year.
The tribunal agreed it would take up seven of the 15 submissions made by Manila, in particular whether Scarborough Shoal and low-tide areas such as Mischief Reef can be considered islands, as China contends.
It will also mull whether China has interfered with Philippine fishing activities at Scarborough Shoal.
But it set aside seven more pointed claims, mainly accusing Beijing of acting unlawfully, to be considered at the next hearing on the actual merits of Manila’s case.
In a July hearing in the Hague, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario warned the integrity of UN maritime laws was at stake.
China’s behaviour had become increasingly “aggressive” and negotiations had proved futile, Mr Del Rosario said.
But the court on Thursday also directed Manila to narrow down the scope of its final request that it should order that “China shall desist from further unlawful claims and activities”.
In Washington, a senior US defence official hailed the tribunal’s decision as victory for international law.
“We of course welcome the decision of the panel. This demonstrates the relevance of international law to the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea,” the defence official said.
“It demonstrates that sovereign claims are not necessarily indisputable and it shows that judging issues like this on the basis of international law and international practice are a viable way of at a minimum managing territorial conflicts, if not resolving them. We strongly welcome the activities of the panel.”
China has said it will not abide by any ruling. But the Philippines hopes a judgement in its favour will pressure China into making concessions.
The tribunal said Thursday’s ruling establishing its competence in the affair had been “unanimous” among the panel of five judges.