As expected, China rejected the ruling. The shoal sits just 110 nautical miles from the main Philippines island of Luzon.
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Nansha is China’s name for the Spratly Islands.
China’s air force also said on its microblog it had recently carried out “normal battle patrols” over the South China Sea involving bombers, spy planes and flying tankers, including over Scarborough Shoal, which is disputed with the Philippines. “Efforts to force us to succumb to pressure will only be counterproductive”.
That fact is not lost on the United States. Such a move would be seen as a threat to freedom of navigation, which the USA has promised to uphold.
Richardson met with Chinese officials to discuss the South China Sea dispute and how the United States and China can ease their tense relationship over sovereignty in the region. Philippine Solicitor General Jose Calida said the ruling will form the basis for any negotiations. The U.S. and others refuse to recognize the zone.
The tribunal has no enforcement arm but Calida said its ruling could be used to foster adherence to the rule of law.
Mr Ruan said China recognised that Australia was a close ally of the US.
“I think what is going on here is public opinion management”, he said.
Richard Heydarian of Manila’s De La Salle University isn’t so sure.
“How much defensive facilities we need will depend on the level of threat we face”.
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Duterte, however, has been more reconciliatory to Beijing and has not celebrated the huge victory.
“We really covered the entire spectrum of our relationship – from those areas where our cooperation and collaboration is doing very well, such as participation in RIMPAC, areas such as port visits, areas such as use of the CUES arrangement to regulate our encounters at sea and keep them safe and professional”, Richardson said in an audio statement distributed by the Navy.
You are exclusively responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service. Filipino fishermen who tried this week were again turned back by Chinese vessels.
When the tribunal issued its decision, Duterte’s government purposely avoided any high-profile celebration to avoid antagonizing China, which refused to take part in the process and declared the tribunal’s ruling “null and void”. There’s an expectation here that this restraint will last, at least for a few months.
In a landmark decision, an global court ruled in favor of the Philippines in a dispute with China over control of its exclusive economic zone.
Jay Batongbacal expects the two sides to sit down for bilateral talks on solving their dispute peacefully.
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He said the court case at The Hague must be used by China’s armed forces to improve its capabilities “so that when push comes to shove, the military can play a decisive role in the last moment to defend our national sovereignty and interests”.
