Commentary: S. China Sea arbitration sets bad example, represents dangerous tendency in int'l relations

The law-abusing tribunal put on a farce when it issued an ill-founded award on the South China Sea arbitration case amid a global chorus that the panel has no jurisdiction.

On Tuesday, the five-member tribunal's award sweepingly sided with the claims unilaterally filed by the administration of former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III, which in the eyes of many observers, is a mockery of justice.

The Philippine-initiated arbitration against China represents a dangerous tendency in current international relations.

Some experts have pointed out that some countries are trying to use the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the only standard and deny the principle that territorial sovereignty is sacred and inviolable, which is enshrined in international law, including the UN Charter, and they attempt to cover up the fact that they are illegally occupying China's islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands.

It seems that these countries need to be reminded that inviolability of territorial sovereignty is a basic principle in the international law, and it is the bedrock for stable international relations.

Meanwhile, the arbitration has set a bad example for settling sovereign disputes, as it not only violated international rule of law, but also undermined the existing international order.

One of the negative fallout of the Philippine-initiated arbitration is that it jeopardizes the international consensus of resolving disputes through peaceful negotiations, the principle also advocated by the UN Charter as well as the international law.

By unilaterally initiating the arbitration, the former Philippine government broke its own commitment made in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002, which was signed between China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to settle disputes through consultation and negotiation, and the move also hampered the active efforts of parties concerned to push forward consultations of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

Negotiation and consultation are the only viable way to resolve the South China Sea disputes. The act of the Philippines, which violates the basic norm of the international law and infringes on China's right to independently choose methods for dispute settlement, will however, constitute a grave threat to peace and stability in the region.

The arbitration, which abused the UNCLOS' compulsory procedures for dispute settlement, is nothing but a political farce under a legal cloak. I can neither change the "old order" nor create a "new reality." Endi