‘China should comply with international law’

MANILA, Philippines — China should earn the trust of Filipinos by complying with international law, including the arbitral ruling that voided its expansive claims in the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said yesterday.

Speaking to journalists at Malacañang, Teodoro noted that the Philippines’ rights and territory are defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which “cannot be frittered away or bargained away by passages of administration or passage of time.”

“As a stronger country, it (China) has the bigger obligation to be magnanimous and show trust, and to earn the trust of the Filipino people by conforming its activities to recognized norms of international law, which in our case is UNCLOS,” Teodoro said.

The defense chief said it is important to take into consideration the specifics of the arbitral court ruling on the South China Sea row and the process by which it was done.

“It was done by an independent arbitral tribunal of expert in international law, where, had China participated, would have had a chance to demonstrate its legal position in a fair and impartial proceeding,” Teodoro said.

China claims historic rights over more than 90 percent of the South China Sea but this is being disputed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. In 2016, a Hague-based arbitral tribunal ruled that China’s wide-reaching claim has no legal basis but Beijing refused to recognize the ruling, calling it “illegal” and “a mere piece of paper.” The ruling stemmed from a complaint filed by the Philippines in 2013.

Teodoro maintained that the Philippines should build a credible deterrence, saying it cannot be forced to bargain away its territory.

“Strengthening our capability to defend ourselves is our internal issue. Whoever will be our partner, it is none of the business of other people. The President has repeatedly said it would be for purely defensive purposes and deterrent purposes,” the defense chief said.

Neither pro-China nor pro-US

In an interview hours after officially assuming the top post at the Department of National Defense on Wednesday, Teodoro said the Philippines should not be boxed up as either pro-China or pro-United States, because the country’s foreign policy is not based on that premise.

“We are not puppets of anyone, and I wouldn’t fall into the trap of siding with one camp or the other,” Teodoro said when interviewed by “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News channel.

He emphasized that his role “is to articulate our policy clearly and also to avoid any misinterpretation of our international engagements with our treaty partners.”

“And that role, I reiterate, is to help create as a value proposition [that] the Philippines has a strong parity partner in defending itself, because I mean the Philippines is important not only to the United States but also to China. It is important to other countries, too,” Teodoro stressed.

Addressing insinuations that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) will be used to meddle in the issue between China and Taiwan, the new defense chief said such “false tale” should not be allowed to project that the country is taking sides.

Teodoro said the Philippines is cognizant of the fact that this agreement with the US is laden with significant admonitions; still, it should unequivocally prioritize the country’s interests above all else. – Michael Punongbayan, Delon Porcalla