Roilo Golez comments on The Joint Statement of the U.S.-ASEAN Special Leaders’ Summit: Sunnylands Declaration

Roilo Golez comments on

The Joint Statement of the U.S.-ASEAN Special Leaders’ Summit: Sunnylands Declaration

The Sunnylands Agreement is a historic event as it cements an ASEAN bond against the threat or use of force in resolving the South China Sea situation. It is a strong signal to China to adhere to the Rule of Law, especially UNCLOS in relation to its nine-dash line claim. The most important implication of the Sunnylands Agreement is on the imminent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the Philippine case against China. Should the Philippines win, we can expect support from ASEAN to honor the ruling and scuttle its nine-dash line fiction. It is a tacit expression of support for any legal means to persuade China to adhere to the Rule of Law. This includes freedom of navigation patrols by the US Navy and other navies of the world. The US-ASEAN accord is the result of China's over aggressiveness that is now backfiring.

The following paragraphs of the Statement are the most germane to our predicament in the West Philippine Sea:

6.   Firm adherence to a rules-based regional and international order that upholds and protects the rights and privileges of all states;

7.   Shared commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes, including full respect for legal and diplomatic processes, without resorting to the threat or use of force in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)