By Amb. Albert Del Rosario
On January 21, 2022, US President Joseph Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a summit video teleconference where they agreed, among others, to oppose China’s attempts to change the status quo in the South China Sea and China’s use of economic coercion to achieve its ends.
While the US and Japan are not coastal States in the South China Sea, they have a real and tangible interest in preserving the Rule of Law in the region. International law grants all nations of the world, including the US and Japan, freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea—which is critical for global economic trade and maintaining peace and security in the region.
The international law that applies in the South China Sea is embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and, specifically, the 2016 Arbitral Ruling won by the Philippines against China in The Hague.
Both the US and Japan have invoked the 2016 Arbitral Ruling against China’s illegal claims in the South China Sea.
These US-Japan efforts to oppose China’s attempts to advance its illegal claims in the South China Sea—are aligned with the interest of the Philippines to preserve its own rights in the West Philippine Sea.
As such, our country should undertake more concrete steps to enforce the 2016 Arbitral Ruling by solidifying the support of the international community.