Vietnam dips feet in Philippines’ arbitration case over South China Sea dispute

From the Business World (Dec 12): Vietnam dips feet in Philippines’ arbitration case over South China Sea dispute

The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is “studying Vietnam’s submission and its possible implications” after Hanoi filed its position to an arbitration tribunal initiated by Manila over the festering dispute that involves several countries.

Vietnam’s latest involvement in the arbitration case was “something new,” DFA Spokesperson Charles C. Jose said in a text message.

Mr. Jose issued these remarks on Friday after Reuters reported that China and Vietnam have clashed again over competing claims in the South China Sea.

China has said repeatedly it will not participate in the case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, branding it an underhand attempt to exert political pressure over territory which is inherently Chinese.

China's foreign ministry, in a statement released late on Thursday, called on Vietnam to respect China's sovereignty, which it said had historical basis.

China will not change its position of not taking part in the arbitration, the ministry said.

Vietnam's foreign ministry said it had submitted its point of view to the court to ensure it pays attention to “our legal rights and interests.”

Vietnam has historical proof and the legal basis to support its claims, and rejects China's “unilateral” claims, it added.

A statement posted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted spokesman Le Hai Binh as saying: "To protect its legal rights and interests in the East Sea which may be affected in the South China Sea Arbitration case, Viet Nam has expressed its position to the Tribunal regarding this case, and requested the Tribunal to pay due attention to the legal rights and interests of Viet Nam."

China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

Mr. Binh reiterated that the country's “consistent position” is to “fully reject China’s claim over the Hoang Sa and Troung Sa archipelagoes and the adjacent waters, as well as China’s claiming of ‘historic rights’ to the waters, sea-bed, and subsoil within the “dotted line” unilaterally stated by China.

Truong Sa refers to the Spratly Islands claimed by the three countries, as well as Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei. Hoang Sa, meanwhile, refers to the Paracel Islands, which is claimed by Vietnam, China, and Taiwan.

China has warned Vietnam before against getting involved in the arbitration case, the first time China has been subjected to international legal scrutiny over the waters.

Anti-Chinese violence flared in Vietnam in May after a $1 billion deepwater rig owned by China's state-run CNOOC oil company was parked 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam.

Since then, though, China has sought to make amends with Vietnam.

In October, the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario and Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh met at the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) 10th Summit in Milan, Italy. According to the DFA, the two ministers urged other ASEM partners to support the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The agreement, signed by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) and China in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2002, states that parties should resolve the dispute by peaceful means and exercise self-restraint on activities seen to escalate tensions.

Mr. del Rosario had also solicited the support of ASEAN and the United Nations for the country's Triple Action Plan (TAP), calling for the cessation of activities in the contested area as an immediate response, the implementation of the aforementioned Code of Conduct as an intermediate approach, and the settlement of disputes in accordance to international law as a final action.

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