July 12, 2024

It has been eight years since the South China Sea arbitration award, which is unlawful, null and void, was issued, but the Philippines is still indulging itself as the "victor" of the arbitration and daydreaming that the arbitration award has become the "criterion" to resolve the disputes, with the illusion that the so-called arbitration award is the premise and basis for dealing with the South China Sea issue. The Philippines is going further down the wrong path of infringing on China's territorial sovereignty, undermining regional peace and stability, and disrupting the international order based on international law.

Upon each anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitration Award since 2016, the Philippines, the US and other Western countries have become very excited in politics, diplomacy and international media. This year is no exception. They impatiently clamor and agitate, always under the banner of "international law." From official statements advocating the arbitration award is valid to political shows disguised as academic events, all of them attempt to introduce lies into the narratives on the South China Sea to cover up history and truth, hype up China as a "threat" to mislead the international community, and spin the South China Sea arbitration case to tie China's hands.

China has a growing capability, with a determination as firm as a rock, to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights as well as maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. The countermeasures faced by the Philippines and the costs it has borne fully demonstrate that expecting China to accept a unilateral solution under comprehensive pressure on the South China Sea issue, devoid of fairness, justice, and legitimacy, is a fantasy. It would entail swallowing the bitter consequences of undermining its interests in territorial sovereignty.

Over its long history, China has gradually established its historic ownership of the South China Sea islands and its historic rights in the South China Sea, but it has never taken advantage of the South China Sea or its national strength to threaten the development of this region. Over the past century, China has endured the painful memory of its territorial sovereignty being repeatedly violated. Despite this historical memory, a stronger China has never bullied any nation, nor will it allow the Philippines to blackmail it in the South China Sea.

With a well-recorded history and hard evidence, the arbitration award cannot give legitimacy to the Philippines' illegal gains in the South China Sea. Rather, it exposes the rogue logic of the Philippines as a thief calling "stop the thief." Backed by the arbitration award and a small number of non-resident countries, the Philippines calls white black and confuses right and wrong. The US has incited the Philippines and even helped guide it to escalate tensions step by step with China. This is the main reason behind growing tensions in the South China Sea. 

The Philippines and the US held a high-profile "commemoration" of the arbitration award, precisely demonstrating that the South China Sea arbitration case is a trap set by the US, initiated by the Philippines, in cooperation with the Arbitration Tribunal. The Philippines claimed that it had no choice, but to initiate arbitration after failing to resolve the South China Sea dispute after more than 50 rounds of negotiations with China. This was denounced as a "lie" by Mr. Alberto Encomienda who headed the then Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center in the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and was directly responsible for the negotiations between China and the Philippines.

This author will not repeat the many fallacies in the arbitration award regarding interpretation and application of the law, fact-finding and admissibility of evidence, which have been widely questioned and criticized. In addition, the South China Sea arbitration case is against common sense in many respects. When considering this absurd case, it's impossible not to see it as a "political farce".

On the key issues in the South China Sea arbitration case, arbitrators have completely opposite views to his long-held academic views, without explanations. I am afraid that this "reversal" cannot be understood purely from an academic point of view. This level of "self-denial" within international judicial and arbitration bodies, without any indication or consideration of personal academic integrity, clearly illustrates to the international community the impartiality - or lack thereof - of the Arbitration Tribunal.

Regarding the Philippine claim concerning marine environmental protection, the Arbitration Tribunal appointed three expert witnesses who hastily produced an expert report in just 17 days. This report, addressing the intricate issue of assessing the marine environment in the South China Sea, caused concerns about its reliability and scientific validity, given the substantial scientific support such an assessment demands. The Arbitration Tribunal did not even make inquiry and examination on the report according to the usual practice of international judicial and arbitration institutions, but directly accepted it and gave it significant value. Obviously, the tribunal needs this report.

The expert witness, an Australian national invited by the Philippines, had written an article pointing out that there are at least a dozen islands in the Nansha Islands in the full sense of the word. However, during the hearings of the Arbitration Tribunal, the expert witness backtracked and said that there was not a single island or reef in the Nansha Islands that could be used to claim exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. The international community may well ask whether the status of an island decided solely by an expert's rhetoric. Facing such a farce, Rigoberto Tiglao, a well-known Philippine political commentator, made a point when he described the South China Sea arbitration as spending 30 million dollars on a stupid game. 

A single unfair judgment is more disastrous than many unfair actions, as the latter pollutes the water flow and the former contaminates the water source. The arbitration award will not have any substantive impact on China's legitimate rights to the South China Sea, but it will squeeze the political space for the parties to resolve their disputes through negotiation and consultation, interfere with maritime cooperation, crisis management and rules building, and shake the confidence of States Parties that the UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanism will not be abused in practice. In this regard, there is a long way to go to rectify the source of the issue, and the journey should start now. 

Ding Duo is a deputy director from the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the China Institute for South China Sea Studies.