
Philippines asserts 2016 arbitral win in critical Beijing forum
MANILA – Representatives from the Philippine Embassy in China attended a July 10 forum in Beijing where they reaffirmed the 'legal authority' of the 2016 arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines' exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement on Sunday, the embassy said the forum organized by a Chinese think tank was held two days before the ninth anniversary of the landmark ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, where the Philippines brought its case against China in 2013.
The forum 'claimed to bring together scholars, legal experts, and policymakers to engage in in-depth discussions on the historical and legal dimensions of the South China Sea,' the embassy said.
But embassy representatives who attended that gathering noted the 'predominant criticism of the [arbitral] award and of Philippine policy and actions in the [South China Sea] region.'
The embassy is headed by Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz, a veteran journalist who had reported extensively on Beijing.
Not the troublemaker
During an opportunity for an intervention, the Filipino officials asserted before that audience that the ruling, along with its annexes, 'proves the validity and legality of Philippine claims and they are available for everyone to study and read.'
They also rejected the notion that the Philippines was the 'troublemaker' in the South China Sea and was refusing to engage in proper dialogue with China.
'We disagree with the notion that the Philippines is not willing to engage with China. In fact, even with the arbitral award, the Philippines has continued to make efforts to keep lines of communication open, maintain proper dialogue, and engage positively with China as well as other claimant states, both bilaterally and regionally, within the context of our legally settled claims in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and international law,' they told the forum.
'We hope China's actions demonstrate genuine willingness to engage and to produce constructive and positive outcomes,' they said.
The Hague ruling also dismissed China's nine-dash-line claim as having no legal basis, noting that Unclos 'superseded any maritime entitlements based on historic rights in excess of the limits imposed' by that international treaty.
US call to China
Meanwhile US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on July 12, the anniversary of the landmark ruling, urging Beijing 'to abide by the 2016 arbitral ruling and to cease its dangerous and destabilizing conduct' in the South China Sea.
He also called out China for its continued defiance of the ruling, its assertion of 'unlawful and expansive maritime claims,' and aggression against its neighbors.
'Beijing's expansive claims directly infringe on the sovereign rights and jurisdictions of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, and undermine peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,' Rubio said on Saturday.
He pointed out that the 2016 arbitral ruling was a 'significant milestone and useful basis' to resolve disputes over the South China Sea.
He said the United States supports a 'free and open Indo-Pacific,' as it aims to maintain peace and stability and prioritize freedom from maritime disputes.
'We seek to preserve peace and stability, uphold freedom of navigation and overflight, maintain the free flow of trade, and oppose coercion to settle maritime disputes,' Rubio said.
'Self-serving interpretation'
Foreign Secretary Teresa Lazaro on Friday also expressed concern over China's continuing rejection of the ruling, emphasizing that it 'persists with illegal, coercive, and aggressive actions under cover of a revisionist, self-serving interpretation and application of international law, particularly Unclos.'
She said the government continues to assert the sovereign rights of the Philippines, uphold international law and utilize the bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea as well as the bilateral consular consultations mechanism with China to maintain dialogue and diplomacy at appropriate official levels. /cb
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
China earmarks $16 billion budget for 2025 childcare subsidies
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Increasing spending on family support reportedly creates a strong system to address China's various economic and social factors that discourage childbirth. HONG KONG - China's finance ministry on July 30 said it had earmarked 90 billion yuan (S$16.14 billion) as an initial budget for childcare subsidy payments in 2025 , an amount that experts said would probably be insufficient to boost a flagging birth rate. China announced a childcare subsidy of 3,600 yuan per year for every child on July 28 , until they reach the age of three. Subsidies will start from the year 2025 , and children born before 2025 who are less than three years old will get partial subsidies. Families can apply for the support from late August, Mr Wang Haidong, director of the Department of Population and Family of the National Health Commission, said at a press conference on July 30 to explain the programme. Chinese provinces have started issuing local childcare subsidies in the last two years, but the amounts are not uniform and range from 1,000 yuan per child to as much as 100,000 yuan including housing subsidies. Mr Guo Yang, director at the Chinese Ministry of Finance, said the central government would subsidise local administrations. 'This demonstrates the central government's high attention and strong support for local governments and will further strengthen local management responsibilities,' he said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore MHA to support HSA's crackdown on Kpod abusers and help in treatment of offenders: Shanmugam Singapore Bukit Panjang LRT to shut on 2 Sundays to facilitate tests; some upgrading work nearing completion Singapore Jail, fine for man linked to case involving 3 bank accounts that received over $680m in total Singapore Provision shop owner who raped 11-year-old gets more than 14 years' jail Business S'pore's economic resilience will face headwinds in second half of 2025 from tariffs, trade conflicts: MAS Business S'pore's Q2 total employment rises but infocomm, professional services see more job cuts Singapore Fewer than 1 in 5 people noticed suspicious items during MHA's social experiments Asia Powerful 8.8-magnitude quake in Russia's far east causes tsunami; Japan, Hawaii order evacuations The high cost of childcare and education, as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have discouraged many young Chinese couples from starting a family, at a time when China is already ageing. Roughly 300 million Chinese are expected to enter retirement in the coming decade – the equivalent of almost the entire US population. The authorities rolled out a series of 'fertility-friendly' measures in 2024, including enhanced maternity insurance and leave, to try and boost the birth rate, which hit a record low in 2023. China's current spending on family-friendly policies is estimated to be well below 1 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared with 2 per cent to 4 per cent in many Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, said Dr Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow in the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University. 'If China can increase its spending on family support even to 2 per cent of its GDP – about three trillion yuan annually – it might create a strong system to address various economic and social factors that discourage childbirth,' she said. Promoting family-friendly work environments, including childcare services, breastfeeding rooms and strengthening female workers' rights are also being urged, said Ms Liu Hongmei, director of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, a state-run body. REUTERS

Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
China earmarks $12.5 billion budget for 2025 childcare subsidies
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox HONG KONG - China's finance ministry on Wednesday said it had earmarked 90 billion yuan ($12.54 billion) as an initial budget for childcare subsidy payments this year, an amount that experts said would probably be insufficient to boost a flagging birth rate. China on Monday announced a childcare subsidy of 3,600 yuan per year for every child, until they reach the age of three. Subsidies will start from this year, and children born before 2025 who are less than three years old will get partial subsidies. Families can apply for the support from late August, Wang Haidong, director of the Department of Population and Family of the National Health Commission, said at a press conference on Wednesday to explain the programme. Chinese provinces have started issuing local childcare subsidies in the last two years, but the amounts are not uniform and range from 1,000 yuan per child to as much as 100,000 yuan including housing subsidies. Guo Yang, director at the Ministry of Finance, said the central government would subsidise local administrations. "This demonstrates the central government's high attention and strong support for local governments and will further strengthen local management responsibilities," he said. The high cost of childcare and education, as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have discouraged many young Chinese couples from starting a family, at a time when China is already ageing. Roughly 300 million Chinese are expected to enter retirement in the coming decade - the equivalent of almost the entire U.S. population. Authorities rolled out a series of "fertility-friendly" measures in 2024, including enhanced maternity insurance and leave, to try and boost the birth rate, which hit a record low in 2023. China's current spending on family-friendly policies is estimated to be well below 1% of GDP, compared to 2% to 4% in many OECD countries, said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow in the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University. "If China can increase its spending on family support even to 2% of GDP — about 3 trillion yuan annually — it might create a strong system to address various economic and social factors that discourage childbirth," she said. Promoting family-friendly work environments, including childcare services, breastfeeding rooms and strengthening female workers' rights are also being urged, said Liu Hongmei, director of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, a state-run body. REUTERS
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business Times
China's top leaders vow support for economy, crackdown on disorderly competition
[BEIJING] China's top leaders have pledged to support an economy facing various risks by managing disorderly competition among firms and beefing up capacity management in key industries in the year's second half, the official news agency Xinhua said. Chinese leaders have signalled they will rein in price wars among producers as expectations grow for a new round of factory capacity cuts in a long-awaited but challenging campaign against deflation, a move that could pose risks to economic growth. In the second half of the year, China will keep policy stable while boosting flexibility, looking to stabilise employment, companies, the market, and expectations, Xinhua said on Wednesday (Jul 30). It was citing a summary of the proceedings of a meeting of China's Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, whose July gathering sets the economic course for the rest of the year. 'At present, China's economic performance still faces many risks and challenges,' the agency quoted the Politburo as saying, adding that authorities would accurately assess the situation and strengthen awareness of potential risks. China will continue to pursue a more proactive fiscal policy and an 'appropriately loose' monetary policy, the summary showed, but made no mention, unlike the April meeting, of interest rates or reserve requirement ratio cuts. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Top leaders said issuance and use of government bonds would be accelerated, with more efficient use of funds. China will unleash the potential of domestic demand and take steps to boost consumption, Xinhua said. It will promote technological innovation to drive development of new quality productive forces and speed cultivation of emerging pillar industries that are globally competitive, while curbing disorderly competition among firms. 'Disorderly competition among enterprises must be governed according to laws and regulations,' the summary read. 'Capacity management in key industries should be advanced.' Analysts believe that stimulating consumer demand remains key to effectively fighting deflation. REUTERS