Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐆𝐮𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐢 that the 2016 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 “𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐫,” stressing that it is a final and binding decision under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
RADM Tarriela emphasized that 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝, noting that under UNCLOS rules, arbitration can proceed even in the absence of one party. He also 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 “𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬” pointing out the 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐥’𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 led by Thomas A. Mensah and governed by established legal procedures.
He reiterated that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚’𝐬 “𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞” and 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬’ 𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐥. RADM Tarriela maintained that the 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬.
