New Philippine president still misinterprets South China Sea ruling

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech during the State of the Nation Address in Quezon City, the Philippines, July 25, 2016. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

In his first state of the nation address on Monday, newly-inaugurated Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a wrong political judgment over the South China Sea issue by eulogizing the recent illegal and invalid arbitral award against China.

In the address, Duterte hailed the recent South China Sea arbitral award given by the unlawfully established temporary tribunal "a key contribution" to peaceful resolution to maritime disputes between the Philippines and China.

First, the arbitration, a unilateral move launched by President Duterte's predecessor and steadily rejected by China, has become an illegally established barrier for Manila itself to overcome in order to start talks with Beijing to end their island spats.

It also runs against China's constant practice of using the mechanism of bilateral talks among the concerned parties in the region to handle such matters.

Second, the arbitral award has seriously undermined China's sovereign rights in the South China Sea. Thus it would be naive for anyone to fancy that China will somehow nod to the proposition of basing future talks with the Philippines on the illegal and invalid arbitral award.

Third, the one-sided award could embolden other regional members to follow suit, which would further fuel the tensions in region.

Also in the speech, Mr. Duterte was mistaken about the connections between the arbitral award and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). He said the outcome of the case was made before the PCA.

In fact, the arbitral award was made by a temporary tribunal, not the court. Meanwhile, according to international law, the tribunal also has no jurisdiction over sovereign issues.

Of Course, it is noted that the new Philippine head of state has expressed many times the intention to work with China to figure out their differences, and has nominated former Philippine President Fidel Ramos as a special envoy to China.

Thus, if the Philippines truly wants peace, then, it should come back to the right track. That starts with recognizing the harms the arbitration has already inflicted on bilateral ties and regional tranquility.