‘China should not complain if Philippines wins arbitration case’

MANILA, Philippines - China should waive its right to complain if it loses in its maritime row with the Philippines before an arbitral court since it has chosen to ignore the proceedings, an adviser to the US State Department and retired US Navy official said.

“Totally disregarding the whole proceedings and because China chose not to participate even in a process of selecting arbiters, I will suggest they waive any right to complain,” Captain J. Ashley Roach said at a recent forum.

Roach is an adviser to the US State Department on law of the sea issues.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague is expected to decide in the coming weeks on Manila’s case seeking to reaffirm the country’s maritime entitlements and contesting Beijing’s massive claims in the West Philippine Sea.

Roach said it is extraordinarily rare for the losing side in a case to ignore or defy decisions of the arbitral tribunal.

He cited the international court’s decision on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between India and Bangladesh.

The tribunal awarded Bangladesh 19,467 sq. km of the 25,602 sq. km sea area of Bay of Bengal. India readily complied with the ruling.

“States are complying. That is the best for peace and stability. They have legal obligation to do so,” Roach said at the US embassy Talks on Law of the Sea.

“If you snub a ruling you undermine the credibility of yourself as a law abiding member and rules-based regime,” he maintained.

The Philippines is the first country to question China’s nine-dash line claim.

“The Philippine archipelagic baseline puts the Philippines in the league in ASEAN. It is very difficult for a single country to take that kind of step. The Philippines should be congratulated for taking that step independently,” Roach stressed.