UN Court of Arbitration will set a verdict on sea row on July 12 2016.

July 12, 2016 is the date where Permanent Court of Arbitration will set its ruling on the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China in relation to occupying the West Philippine Sea.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration says that 'there will be no in-person meeting or ceremony for the rendering of the award.

The historic case is handled by an arbitral tribunal at the PCA. In these arbitration proceedings, the Philippines seek to nullify China's expansive claim over practically the whole South China Sea, parts of which the Philippines claims as the West Philippine Sea.

"The Tribunal will issue its Award on Tuesday, 12 July 2016, at approximately 11 am CEST, The Hague," the PCA said in a statement Wednesday evening, June 29.

"The Award will first be issued via e-mail to the Parties, along with an accompanying Press Release containing a summary of the Award. The Press Release will be in English and French, with an unofficial Mandarin Chinese translation provided," the PCA added.

"The Parties will receive originally signed versions of the Award. Hard copies of the Award will also be sent to the Embassies of States that were granted observer status for the hearings. There will be no in-person meeting or ceremony for the rendering of the Award," the PCA said.

The Philippines filed the memorial before The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in 2013 after Chinese ships refused to withdraw from the Panatag (Scarborough) shoal, which is being claimed by China and the Philippines. The shoal is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The government argued that China’s nine-dash-line claim over almost the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) should be declared invalid because these are contrary to the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

Senior diplomats and foreign policy experts are holding marathon meetings at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to map out Manila’s strategy once the ruling has been handed down.

US vows ‘action’ if China builds new S. China Sea structures

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter delivers a speech titled “Meeting Asia’s Complex Security Challenges” at the 15th International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-la Dialogue, or IISS, Asia Security Summit on Saturday, June 4, 2016, in Singapore. AP PHOTO

SINGAPORE—Chinese construction on a South China Sea islet claimed by the Philippines would prompt “actions being taken” by the United States and other nations, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned Saturday.

Speaking at a security summit in Singapore, Carter said Beijing risks building a “Great Wall of self-isolation” with its military expansion in the contested waters, but he also proposed stronger bilateral security cooperation to reduce the risks of a mishap.

“I hope that this development doesn’t occur because it will result in actions being taken both by the United States, and actions being taken by others in the region that will have the effect of not only increasing tensions but isolating China,” Carter said when asked about Scarborough Shoal in a forum also attended by senior Chinese military officials.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post has reported that China plans to establish an outpost on the shoal, 230 kilometers (140 miles) off the Philippine coast, which Manila says lies in its exclusive economic zone.

Beijing claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea and has developed contested reefs into artificial islands, some topped with airstrips.

Manila says China took effective control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, stationing patrol vessels and shooing away Filipino fishermen, after a two-month stand-off with the Philippine Navy.

The Post cited a source closed to the Chinese military as saying construction at the outpost would allow Beijing to “further perfect” its air coverage across the South China Sea, suggesting it plans to build an airstrip.

‘Great Wall of self-isolation’

The construction plans were likely to be accelerated in light of the upcoming ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague on a case brought by the Philippines against China, which has shunned the proceedings and says it will not recognize any ruling.

In a prepared speech, Carter said the United States views the upcoming ruling “as an opportunity for China and the rest of the region to recommit to a principled future, to renewed diplomacy, and to lowering tensions, rather than raising them.”

The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam have competing claims in the sea, which encompass vital global shipping routes and is believed to have significant oil and gas deposits.

Beijing’s claim to nearly the entire sea, based on controversial historical records, has also pitted it against the United States, which has conducted patrols near Chinese-held islands to press for freedom of navigation.

“Unfortunately, if these actions continue, China could end up erecting a Great Wall of self-isolation,” Carter said in his speech.

The key to regional security, Carter said, was enhanced military cooperation across the region and the observance of “core principles” such as the peaceful resolution of disputes through legal means and the development of a “principled security network.”

He also suggested the United States and China would benefit from better military ties — both to build understanding and to avoid the risk of mishaps.

According to the Pentagon, two Chinese fighters last month conducted an “unsafe” intercept of a US spy plane in international air space over the South China Sea, further heightening tensions in the strategically vital waters.

“America wants to expand military-to-military agreements with China to focus not only on risk reduction, but also on practical cooperation,” Carter said.

His attendance at the summit is part of a broader US diplomatic push, known as the Asia “rebalance”, to build and maintain alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, which America sees as key to its own long-term economic and security interests.

In a report last month, the Pentagon said China put its land reclamation efforts on hold in the Spratly Islands chain at the end of 2015. Instead, it focused on adding military infrastructure to its reclaimed features.

In all, China has added more than 3,200 acres (1,295 hectares) of land to the seven features it occupies in the Spratlys, the report found, and it has added lengthy runways to three of these.

Group of Seven (G7) sends message to China

ISE CITY, Japan—With a keen eye on the Philippines’ legal battle with China over territory in the South China Sea, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced democracies have agreed to send a strong message on the importance of international law in resolving maritime disputes in Asia.

Though no individual countries were mentioned, the contents of their declaration at the close of an annual summit appeared to be directed at China.

China’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea and militarization of the region has angered some of its Southeast Asian neighbors and sparked fears over threats to freedom of navigation in the strategic waterway.

“We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasize the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes,” the G7 leaders said.

The leaders—representing the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada—said settlement of disputes should be “peaceful” and “freedom of navigation and overflight” should be respected.

They said claims in the East and South China Seas should be made based on international law and countries should refrain from “unilateral actions that could increase tensions” while also avoiding “force or coercion in trying to drive their claims.”

They also stressed that judicial means, “including arbitration,” should be used.

That call came ahead of a ruling expected within weeks on China’s claims brought by the Philippines to the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. China has said it does not recognize the case.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed the importance of the rule of law and mentioned the Philippine case as a focal point.

“As for the Philippines, soon the decision in its arbitration case will be announced. From the standpoint of the rule of law, it’s important that respective countries clearly demonstrate their stance [on this],” Abe said.

Before Friday’s declaration, the G7 leaders said they should pay close attention to the Philippine case, with some of them stating that they should “raise their voice on this,” if necessary.

On the first day of the two-day G7 Ise-Shima Summit, the seven heads of state arrived at a decision to send a bold signal emphasizing international law in disputes in the East and South China Seas, a Japanese spokesperson said.

“On the expected judgment by the [UN] court of the issue of the oceans, G7 should pay keen attention on this, and, if necessary, will raise their voice on this,” said Yasuhisa Kawamura, press secretary of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Clear signal

At a briefing late Thursday, Kawamura relayed to the press the outcome of the closed session among the G7 leaders who had gathered for their annual meeting at the Shima Kanko Hotel nestled in the picturesque Ise-Shima region.

“They agreed on the importance of observance of international law, rule and principle. This point should be sent out as a clear signal to the rest of the world. That is G7’s expected role,” Kawamura said.

He said the G7 leaders also recognized concerns about the people’s freedom of navigation and overflight, which, he added, were personally important to the heads of state.

Asked to elaborate on what conditions would necessitate raising the G7 bloc’s voice, Kawamura clarified that these words were only a “comment” by the participants, and were not a wrap-up conclusion.

Though not a member of G7, China, the world’s second-largest economy, cast a shadow over the talks with its increasingly aggressive posture in the East and South China Seas.

China is locked in dispute with G7 host Japan over ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known to the Japanese as the Senkakus and to the Chinese as Diaoyus.

To bolster its claim to the islands, China has declared an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea, which Japan, the United States and their allies have refused to recognize.

Principled approach

Pressed to answer yes or no to a question on whether G7 would take a leadership role in the maritime disputes involving China, Kawamura said the issue was not so black and white.

“Diplomacy is sometimes not a yes or no type of interactions,” he said. “Let me put it this way: They (G7 leaders) recognized the concerns, and they recognized the necessity to address it, and they agreed to a principled approach to the issues on the oceans.”

Kawamura cited another comment by the world leaders that G7 might need to cooperate with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and possibly bring up the issue at the upcoming East Asia Summit in September.

Philippine Navy welcomes BRP Tarlac

The Philippine Navy on Monday welcomed its first ever strategic sealift vessel BRP Tarlac, in a ceremony at Pier 13 at Manila South Harbor. BRP Tarlac figures to be the navy’s floating command and control center during humanitarian assistance and disaster response, apart from providing military sealift and transport services.

The BRP Tarlac is part of a P3.87 billion two-vessel contract entered into by the Philippine government with an Indonesian shipbuilder PT PAL Persero.

The BRP Tarlac is equipped with modern navigation and surface search radar, air search radar, an electronic warfare system, electro-optical fire control system and combat management system.
Its flight deck can carry two 10-ton helicopters. It also has an enclosed hangar for a 10-ton helicopter.

China wants all the resources in West Philippine Sea

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines on Thursday (November 25), said the maritime dispute in the South China Sea is a clash over resources.
For China, it's about asserting itself as a regional power by controlling the area.
"Definitely China wants all the resources in the South China Sea. They want all the fish, all the oil and gas," Carpio said.
"That's why when we tried to bid out internationally areas three and 4 four in the Reed Bank they sent us note verbale. They said 'we own areas three and four in the Reed Bank.' In fact, the entire Reed Bank, that's their position. So it's a fight over resources."
Carpio said China might influence countries around the South China Sea if it could control resources in the area.
Located northwest of Palawan, the Reed Bank or Recto Bank is the site of an oil drilling project by Forum Energy which Philex Petroleum is a majority owner.
But government temporarily stopped the service contract on December 2014 as the drilling site is within the disputed area subject to a United Nations arbitration.
The arbitral tribunal ruled it has jurisdiction over the country's case against China.
But Carpio said the country shouldn't eagerly lift the moratorium on oil drilling because of the ruling.
"The case has not been finished yet. We have to wait for the outcome. It's still pending," said Carpio.
He added: "If the tribunal rules that the Reed Bank belongs to the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, then of course we have all the right to proceed, because under the law of the sea, we have the exclusive right to exploit our EEZ.

China to move beyond South China Sea?

According to Carpio, there are also speculations that after securing South China Sea, China will move beyond the first island chain in the Western Pacific.
The Supreme Court justice said he doesn't know if China will do that, but that seems to be the direction China is taking.
"If they do that, if they can control the South China Sea economically and militarily, then there will be no law of the sea anymore. There will be no UNCLOS.," Carpio said. "That's why we went to the tribunal and asked the tribunal to apply the law of the sea in South China Sea."
Carpio said the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling on jurisdiction could be considered as "an initial victory for the Philippines." He adds it's "the ruling that we wanted."
On the seven submissions that the tribunal deferred ruling, he said: "They have to know the facts. We have not presented the facts. Doesn't mean anything really. We expected that."
He said the Philippines could expect a ruling not later than mid-2016.
He also believes the tribunal will rule that China cannot claim the entire South China Sea, but it will be limited to what UNCLOS allows them, which is 200 nautical miles from its coast line.

By Anjo Alimario, CNN Philippines