#Chexit: PH wins case on West Philippine Sea vs China

PH WINS. The West Philippine Sea rightfully belongs to PH, The UN Arbitral Tribunal said. Photo grabbed from dzrhnews.com

 

On Tuesday afternoon, the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal has finally decided on ruling the arbitration case in favor of the Philippines regarding the case of West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) against China.

In a press release made public by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, it was stated that “The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line.”

Also, The Tribunal was said to found that “China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone.” This was through interfering with PH fishing and petroleum exploration, constructing artificial islands, and failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone. “The Tribunal further held that Chinese law enforcement vessels had unlawfully created a serious risk of collision when they physically obstructed Philippine vessels,” the statement said.

The case started when PH filed a case in January 2013 regarding the tension between Chinese and Philippine ships in Scarborough shoal in April 2012. Since then, China has done “massive reclamation projects which alarmed other Southeast Asian nations,” according to an Inquirer report.

 

Source: pca-cpa.org; Inquirer; Rappler