UK ambassador urges parties to comply with Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on West PHL Sea row

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 2): UK ambassador urges parties to comply with Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on West PHL Sea row

British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad urges countries with claims in the West Philippines Sea to comply with the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

“We ask every state involved to abide by those rules,” said Ahmad during his meeting with British Chamber of Commerce Philippines in Makati City Tuesday.

He added that as a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), United Kingdom seeks for “total compliance” with the ruling of the PCA over the disputed West Philippine Sea.

Last month, PCA’s ruling on West Philippine Sea has favored Manila invalidating China’s ‘nine-dash line’, noting that “there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas within the nine-dash line’”.

Ahmad also urged involved parties to take necessary steps, which is to have dialogues and negotiations.

“Our view is that the negotiations perceived is based on the Code of Conduct which affects not only the Philippines and china but other claimant states,” he added.

The British ambassador also stressed that involved countries should not resort to escalation of the conflict.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=909923