Philippines mulls bringing South China Sea dispute to UN as Hague ruling fails to deter Beijing

Presidential spokesman says Duterte has a few options to seek resolution in conflict, as Chinese vessels block Filipino fishermen’s access to Thitu Island
But it is up to Duterte, who has tried to forge stronger ties with Beijing, to decide

The Philippines

Raissa Robles

Published: 9:06pm, 5 Apr 2019

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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte may take the country’s fight for disputed islands in the South China Sea to the United Nations if Beijing blocks Manila’s access to Thitu Island.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte may raise before the UN General Assembly the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration if bilateral negotiations did not lead to a solution. His statement came after Chinese vessels continued to block the archipelago’s fishermen and access to Thitu island, which hosts a Philippine village.

“The arbitral ruling is there permanently. They cannot remove that from us but the problem is, it appears, we cannot enforce [it] simply because we don’t have the might,” Panelo said.

If nothing happens with the negotiations, “what’s the next step?”, he said.

“We are a member of the United Nations and there are cases where certain issues, which affect humanity, are raised in the General Assembly, then the General Assembly makes a unified action. Maybe that’s the next step,” he said.

Since the international maritime tribunal’s ruling, which came in the early days of Duterte’s presidency, the Philippines’ leader has shelved the country’s sovereignty claims over certain geographical features in the South China Sea, including Thitu Island, in favour of forging stronger ties with Beijing. Instead, Duterte has sought Chinese support to fund his “build, build, build programme”, while trying to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the South China Sea conflict.

During that time, China has rapidly turned Philippine-claimed reefs into artificial islands with military facilities.

Panelo’s comments on Tuesday came during a roller coaster week for the Philippines-China relationship.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs filed a rare diplomatic protest on the massing of Chinese vessels around Thitu Island on Monday. Days later, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and Philippines foreign affairs assistant secretary Meynardo LB. Montealegre held bilateral talks in Manila over “recent developments and actions” in the conflict area.

‘China is our friend,’ Duterte says amid South China Sea tensions

Duterte on Thursday described Beijing as “my friend”, but then warned it to “lay off” the disputed island.

“I will not plead or beg, but I am just telling you that lay off the Pagasa because I have soldiers there. If you touch it, that’s a different story. I will tell the soldiers ‘prepare for suicide mission’,” Duterte said in a speech, using the local name for Thitu.

Panelo was careful to couch his comments about taking the dispute to the UN, saying it was only his personal opinion and “for the president to decide”, and that former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario had earlier urged the government to do the same.

Del Rosario, who helped pursue the successful 2016 arbitration, said the country could count on “many friends and allies who were waiting to see what we are going to do with this”.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AFP

“We have, for example, the United Nations General Assembly. We can bring the case to the General Assembly and seek a solution from them,” he said.

Retired Philippine UN envoy Lauro Baja agreed, but conceded the Philippines “may be very late” or “too late” to seek a resolution.

“Other UN members might wonder why Manila is only raising the matter after two years,” he said. But it may still be worth a shot, he said.

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“First, we have to find an existing item in the UN agenda in which we could bring the matter. If there is no existing item, then on our own, we could submit a concept paper and request that this matter be discussed as an additional agenda item of whatever assembly session – this year or next year,” he said.

Baja, who served as president of the UN Security Council twice, explained that while the General Assembly has no police powers, formally bringing the arbitral victory to the attention of UN members could help lobby support for Manila’s case.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs’ protest described China’s recent encroachment in the South China Sea as “a clear violation of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction”.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Philippines may take sea row to U.N.

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