Philippines won't sacrifice sea feud victory in China talks

MANILA: The Philippines will fight for its landmark arbitration victory to be upheld when it talks about resolving its South China Sea disputes with China, which has refused to recognize the ruling, the government lawyer said on Friday. The Philippine position disclosed by solicitor general Jose Calida runs against that of China, which opposes use of the tribunal ruling as basis for any negotiations. Under a 1982 UN treaty

governing the world's oceans, the Philippines had sought arbitration in 2013 on several issues related to territorial rifts with China. In its ruling Tuesday, the tribunal found China's far-reaching claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis and that Beijing had violated Philippine maritime rights by constructing artificial islands and disrupting Filipino fishing and oil exploration.

President Rodrigo Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, brought the case against China and bolstered security relations with treaty ally the United States to deter assertive Chinese actions, considerably straining ties.

Duterte, however, has been more reconciliatory to Beijing and has not celebrated the huge victory. He has ordered government lawyers to study the ruling and has not disclosed his plan to secure Chinese compliance.

Calida, however, strongly praised the victory as a "historic win'' in a forum on the ruling and said the Duterte administration would work to have the widely praised decision upheld when it holds proposed talks with China.

"The award is a historic win not only for the Philippines but for the international community because it renews the humanity's faith in a rules-based global order,'' Calida said in a speech. "The award is a crowning glory of international law.''

Calida later told reporters that "the baseline for any negotiation should be the decision,'' adding "we will not concede any awards given to us.''

While prodding China to "respect'' the decision, Calida said the government would deal with Beijing diplomatically to foster better relations. "The Philippines will not sacrifice what we have obtained from this decision but we will also pursue diplomatic means hopefully to convince China that we can co-exist peacefully,'' he said.

"We will be patient, of course, and hopefully China will also show the same grace that we have shown when we did not, as wanted by some sectors of society, gloat about this victory,'' he said.