‘China’s maritime activities in West Philippine Sea contrary to international law’

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Coast Guard’s activities in the West Philippine Sea, particularly in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, are “contrary to international law,” a maritime law expert from the University of the Philippines said before the weekend.

Lawyer Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, cited the “close distance maneuvering” of CCG ships in the face of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels patrolling Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc as an activity outlawed by The Hague ruling on the South China Sea in 2016.

“When it comes to the South China Sea, when it comes to the interpretation of declaration of UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), when it comes to what is legal and what is not legal in the SCS, especially with respect to the kinds of activities that China carried out against the Philippines like dangerous maneuvering, The Hague ruling already clearly stated that that kind of dangerous maneuvering is contrary to international law,” Batongbacal said in an interview on “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News channel.

In a landmark ruling on July 12, 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) found no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to a “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea and Beijing had breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines, which brought the case to the international court.

China, however, opposed and refused to honor the ruling of the international tribunal.

Still, the ruling has put China on notice that if it keeps on doing activities against the Philippines in the WPS and creates damage or injury because of its continuing conduct of these kinds of violations, it is made “responsible and liable,” explained Batongbacal.