Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 6) — China should respect international law and not pick what to follow especially with regard to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Tuesday.
“Mali ‘yun. It violates our, the principles of international law, especially when it regards to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Dapat igalang nila ang UN Convention on the Law of the Sea where they are part of the convention,” Remulla said in a briefing when he was asked about what he thought about China’s expanded 10-dash line.
[Translation: It’s wrong. It violates our, the principles of international law especially when it regards to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They should respect the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea where they are part of the convention.]
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“They cannot choose what to respect and what not to respect in the UN. Dapat ang China matuto silang gumalang sa batas. At ang international law kasi, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is recognized as law by all the member-states of the United Nations and they are still members of the UN,” he added.
[Translation: They cannot choose what to respect and what not to respect in the UN. China should learn to respect the law. And the international law, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is recognized as law by all the member-states of the United Nations and they are still members of the UN.]
Remulla also said China could opt out of the UN if they can’t abide by its conventions.
“If they don’t want to be a member of the UN then probably, they may just opt out if they can’t respect the UN Conventions,” he said.
Remulla’s sentiments were similar to lawmakers who brushed off China’s new map showing its extended claims in the South China Sea.
The map showed 10 dashes that form a U shape, claiming nearly the entire South China Sea as part of its territory. The area overlaps with the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Philippines as well as those of Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Sen. Francis Escudero, for one, said China could issue maps as much as it wants to but it “does not affect us nor does it impinge on the Arbitral Ruling in our favor. Any unilateral declaration by a State has no weight nor standing in international law.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that a diplomatic protest has been filed over the issue and called on China to act responsibly and to abide by its obligations under the UNCLOS and the 2016 arbitral ruling.
