The venue of the arbitration proceedings is the 100-year-old Peace Palace in The Hague, which also houses the International Court of Justice. Photo courtesy of PCA
(VOVworld) – The international community has voiced support for a decision issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) last Thursday that it has jurisdiction to hear territorial claims in the case filed by the Philippines against China over disputed areas in the East Sea. In a news release late Thursday evening, the PCA said the tribunal “has held that both the Philippines and China are parties” to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and therefore “bound by its provisions on the settlement of disputes.” The tribunal has also held that China’s decision not to participate in these proceedings does not deprive the tribunal of jurisdiction and that the Philippines’ decision to commence arbitration unilaterally was not an abuse of the Convention’s dispute settlement procedures.
The French newspaper Le Monde and news agencies including RFI and AFP gave broad coverage to the issue on Thursday, asserting that China’s decision not to participate in these proceedings will not affect the tribunal’s decision. The UK news agency Reuters said Beijing’s diplomatic position will be adversely affected if the court rules that China has violated any UN regulations.