The Philippines welcomes a ruling by a UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday that declares China has no “historic rights” in the South China Sea, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said, as he urged restraint. / AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS
(Eagle News) — The Philippines welcomed a ruling by a United Nations backed tribunal on Tuesday declaring that China has no “historic rights” in the South China Sea as it urged restraint while experts study the ruling with “care and thoroughness.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay issued a statement immediately after the ruling and read it in a press conference at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
He described the ruling as a “milestone decision” and stressed that the Philippines is reiterating its position for the “peaceful resolution and management” of the dispute.
“The Philippines welcomes the issuance today, 12 July 2016, of the Award by the Arbitral Tribunal constituted by the Permanent Court of Arbitration under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Philippines with regard to the South China Sea,” Yasay said in a statement issued after the Hague ruling.
“Our experts are studying the Award with the care and thoroughness that this significant arbitral outcome deserves,” the DFA’s statement said.
“In the meantime, we call on all those concerned to exercise restraint and sobriety,” Yasay said.
The DFA statement said that the Philippines “strongly affirms its respect for this milestone decision as an important contribution to ongoing efforts in addressing disputes in the South China Sea.”
It said the decision has upheld international law, “particularly the 1982 UNCLOS.”
Yasay said that the country reiterates “its abiding commitment to efforts to pursue the peaceful resolution and management of disputes with a view to promoting and enhancing peace and stability in the region.”