PH to China: We’ll see you in court

From the Manila Times (Feb 8): PH to China: We’ll see you in court

The Aquino administration made the call to China in the aftermath of President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s statement likening China’s aggression in West Philippine Sea islands to Adolf Hitler’s move in expanding the territory of the Nazi-ruled Germany during the Second World War.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda noted that China should not take offense of President Aquino’s remarks, considering that Philippines already brought the conflicting claims of Philippines and China on West Philippine Islands before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas.

China, however, has nixed this move and has stuck with its nine-dash argument which virtually claims the whole of West Philippine Sea, overlapping the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam as provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas where Manila and Beijing is a signatory.

“The analogy used by the President only speaks of a situation where we should not be appeasing someone and the aggression has to stop. What China failed to address is that we have brought this to international arbitration proceedings. We should talk about the claims there in court,” Lacierda told Radyo ng Bayan.

An opinion piece in the China state media Xinhua tagged President Aquino as immature and ignorant over the Nazi rule comparison.

Further, China has consistently pushed for a bilateral dialogue over the conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea.

Lacierda, however, argued that bilateral dialogue is not the way to go since the Philippines and China are not the only countries who have claims in the resources-rich islands in the West Philippine Sea.

“We can’t keep the dialogue between the two countries and resolve this on our own because this issue involves a lot of countries. We are going on a rules-based approach here, and that’s why we sought international arbitration,” Lacierda stressed.

“Let’s settle this before the arbitration court,” Lacierda added.

http://manilatimes.net/breaking_news/ph-to-china-well-see-you-in-court/