China, which has long insisted that the court lacks jurisdiction over issues of sovereignty and maritime delimitation, declared the award “null and void”.
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The Philippines had not sought support from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or the global community in its arbitration case against Beijing over the South China Sea, and did not want to press the issue and risk dividing the group or provoking China, Perfecto Yasay said.
Kerry, who was due to travel to the Philippines later on Tuesday, said he would encourage Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to engage in dialogue and negotiations with China when the two meet in Manila on Wednesday.
“Mr. Kerry was helpful in defining certain issues about the Paris pact and the president also responded appropriately when he said the Philippines will work just as long as everything is fair”, said Abella. And it is an arbitration, the results of which, the global community, ourselves included, believe is legally binding and is a matter of law…
Duterte supports the revival of talks with China and expressed his respect for the decision in his first State of the Nation Address on Monday.
Kerry said he was “very satisfied” with the communique as it showed all members were fully supportive of the rule of law, even though the thorny issue of the arbitration case was left out.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5-trillion of trade moves annually. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the disputed waters. Rice had also told Chinese officials, who included a top military officer, that the United States military operations were created to contribute to peace and stability wherever they happened, including in the South China Sea, the official said. Kerry was in Vientiane on July 25 to participate in the ASEAN talks and urge the divisive Southeast Asian nations to come to an agreement.
A statement from China’s Wang Yi said Wednesday that the trilateral statement “is fanning the flames” at a time when “regional countries are determined to enhance cooperation and want to see the South China Sea situation cool down”.
China scored a diplomatic victory on Monday as Asean dropped any reference to the court ruling in a joint statement in the face of resolute objections from Cambodia, China’s closest Asean ally.
The DFA also quoted Yasay as saying it “is a clearly established fact” that the Hague ruling is “final and binding to all parties concerned”.
In other words, they urged China to stop doing what it has been enthusiastically doing to the South China Sea for the past couple of years.
Beijing has made clear it would negotiate its claims with Manila without acknowledging the tribunal’s ruling.
“The China-Japan relations are still vulnerable and unsatisfactory”, Wang told Fumio Kishida, Japan’s minister for foreign affairs.
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Speaking later at a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Yasay said there were no losers in Laos and the issuance of a joint communique was a triumph for the 10-member bloc.
