Carpio: Wait for China to use coast guard law before going to UN tribunal
MANILA, Philippines — Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday suggested waiting for China to commit a violation as Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. refuses to raise its new coast guard law before a United Nations-backed tribunal.
Locsin earlier declared that he will not raise the China coast guard issue before the international tribunal as it would "reopen" the Philippines' arbitral award.
Carpio, however, clarified that doing so will not reopen that arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing's expansive claims over the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.
"If China fires on a Philippine vessel in the West Philippine Sea that's the time we go to a [UN Convention on the Law of the Sea] tribunal," Carpio told CNN Philippines' "The Source."
The retired magistrate added that Locsin effectively agreed to this when he vowed that he will do more in case of another incident with the Chinese coast guard.
While there is no new incident yet between the Chinese coast guard and Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea, Carpio said the Philippines should prepare.
According to Carpio, China is more likely to apply the new aw against Vietnam and Malaysia before the Philippines.
"We should wait for a violation... This will make our case stronger. We will not only be speculating, we will actually be basing our action on an actual case, actual controversy," he said in the same interview.
Carpio stressed that the China Coast Guard Law, which threatens use of force, violates the UNCLOS and the UN Charter.
In case that Beijing refuses to participate in another complaint before the UN-backed tribunal, it would be the world that will tell China to comply with international rules and norms.
China also refused to take part in the Philippines' arbitration before the arbitral tribunal, which later on declared that Manila has sovereign rights over resources in its exclusive economic zone.
"We are putting pressure on China using international law that China should comply and in fact we are getting support of the rest of the world," Carpio said.
In an interview with ANC's "Headstart" earlier this week, Locsin noted that the China Coast Guard Law has no exact delineation of its jurisdiction.
This means that the new law could also cover the West Philippine Sea as Beijing also claims the area as its territorial waters, which Locsin said was a "threat of war," pushing him to fire a diplomatic protest.
"If there is an incident, I can assure you it will be more than just a protest," Locsin told ANC on Monday.
The Chinese Embassy, meanwhile, insisted that the new law, which authorizes the coast guard to fire at foreign vessels, was formulated as a "normal domestic legislative activity."
"The enact of the law doesn’t indicate any change of China’s maritime policy. China has always been committed to managing differences with countries including the Philippines through dialogue and consultations and upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea," the Chinese Embassy said in a statement released February 1.
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