Manila has rejected Beijing’s demand that it “disregard” an international ruling that invalidated China’s claims to much of the South China Sea before negotiating on the issue, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfecto Yasay said yesterday.
China last week denounced The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration’s finding that there was no legal basis for its claims to most of the strategic, resource-rich waters, provoking stern warnings from leaders from Japan to the EU that it must respect the rule-based global order.
Following the decision, Beijing asked Manila, which brought the case, “to open ourselves for bilateral negotiations, but outside of and in disregard of the arbitral ruling,” Yasay told broadcaster ABS-CBN.
Photo: EPA
“This is something that I told him was not consistent with our constitution and our national interest,” he said.
The court ruled that Beijing had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights to exploit resources in waters up to 340km beyond its coast, called its exclusive economic zone.
Yasay’s comments were more forceful than previous reactions from Manila, with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte keen to restore relations with Beijing and promising not to “taunt or flaunt” the verdict.
Yasay and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi (王毅), discussed the possibility of talks on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in Ulan Bator last weekend, but made no headway, Yasay said.
He quoted Wang as telling him: “If you will insist on the ruling, discussing along those lines, then we might be headed for a confrontation.”
Direct talks were unlikely soon in the light of Beijing’s refusal to accept the ruling, Yasay said.
“Let the dust settle some more and let’s see how we can open up the road for this kind of negotiation,” he added.
In related news, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Yan (高燕) yesterday in Beijing brushed off calls from some Chinese for a boycott on products from the Philippines and the US because of the ruling.
Asked if China would take retaliatory trade measures against Manila, Gao told reporters that trade relations with Manila were developing smoothly.
“In recent years, the development of China’s trade relations with the Philippines overall has been smooth and stable. China is willing to develop mutually beneficial and diverse trade relations with the Philippines,” she said.
“I should say that though some Internet users have called for boycotts on products from the Philippines, in actuality this situation has not occurred,” she said.
State media has called on people to oppose “irrational patriotism” over the case.
“Other net users have levelled false accusations against public figures and have started to mislead people into blindly boycotting foreign products and brands such as Philippine bananas, iPhones and KFC,” the state-run tabloid the Global Times said.
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