IF President Duterte has foreign affairs and defense department secretaries who demonstrate astonishing nescience over a very important matter as the Philippines vs China arbitration, he should be very worried. Pivot to AsiaFirst, it was part of the Obama administration’s “Pivot to Asia” policy, which had as one component the demonization of China as an evil empire grabbing islands in the South China Sea. Locsin pontificated in his statement: “The award is non-negotiable.” How can an arbitration award not be negotiable, if it is between two parties? More than the nomenclature though, we lost huge areas of the South China because of this particular provision of the award. What Pompeo, Locsin and Lorenzana are ecstatic about over the award is that it ruled that China’s nine-dash line in the South China Sea has no basis in international law.

Source: Manila Times July 16, 2020 17:13 UTC