PHL hopes China changes position on West Philippine Sea arbitration case

From InterAksyon (Sep 21): PHL hopes China changes position on West Philippine Sea arbitration case



The Philippines still hopes China will change its mind and participate in the arbitration case filed at the international arbitral tribunal, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia said.

The Philippines submitted its memorial to the tribunal in March this year, and according to Cuisia, the deadline for China's submission for a similar memorial will be on Dec. 15 this year.

China, however, continues to reject participation in the arbitration case.

According to Cuisia, many people say that if China has strong grounds for its own claim, it must participate in the case filed by the Philippines.

"So we’re still hopeful that the Chinese authorities will change their mind. Because then it gives us an opportunity to have a very good, well, I guess presentation to the Tribunal of our own position and they will also present their position," he said.

President Benigno S. Aquino III, who is arriving in Boston Sunday (Sept. 21) is also expected to talk about the West Philippine Sea issue when he delivers messages at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and at Columbia University in New York, Cuisia said.

"The .... President is very confident to speak about it, not only because he knows the issue very well, but [because] we have very strong grounds for advancing our position," he noted.

The Philippines has served notice it will always adhere to the rule of law and has based its claim on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

European countries visited by the President recently expressed support for the peaceful resolution of the dispute.

Countries like the US, Japan, Australia and also the European Union have said the issue should be settled peacefully, and back Manila's move to raise the matter before the UN court. Cuisia noted that international law must be used as the basis for settling the dispute.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/95835/phl-hopes-china-changes-position-on-west-philippine-sea-arbitration-case