Carpio joins team suing China’s President

MANILA: Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is joining the team suing Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping for illegal incursions in the South China Sea.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario announced Wednesday that Carpio, a renowned expert on the law of the sea, will serve as lawyer in charging Xi for crimes against humanity for Beijing’s illegal moves in the disputed waters.

Carpio retired in October 2019. Prior to that, he was a key member of the team which brought Manila’s complaint against China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea before an international tribunal in The Hague, which the country won in July 2016.

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In March 2019, Del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court against Xi, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and former Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua over near-permanent environmental destruction in the West Philippine Sea, a portion of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines as part of its exclusive economic zone.

The filing said China’s encroachment on islands in the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands, resulted in “environmentally destructive and illegal reclamations and artificial island building activities” in Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan Islands and deprived Filipino fishermen from livelihood as the Chinese blocked them from casting their nets in contested waters under Xi’s reign.

However, the ICC flagged late last year that the case filed against Chinese officials may not be under its jurisdiction. Del Rosario and Carpio-Morales said the fight is not over.

“If it is shown that the crimes described in the communication occurred not only in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines, but also within its territorial sea or landmass, the ICC has basis to proceed with our communication,” Del Rosario said during a forum, touting the former Supreme Court magistrate as someone who “will surely bolster our efforts in the ICC.”

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Carpio-Morales added that their team has submitted a response to the ICC this week to push the case forward, where they point out that the massive illegal reclamation and artificial island-building approved by Chinese officials in the Spratlys. She said among those turned into artificial islands is Subi Reef, which is within the territorial sea of (or within12 nautical miles off) Pag-asa—an island the Philippines considers part of its territory and which is permanently occupied by a Filipino community.

“Chinese officials continue to enforce its hostile blockade within the territorial sea of Scarborough Shoal that prevents Filipino fishermen from pursuing their livelihood,” Del Rosario added. “These fishermen live along the coast of Luzon and rely on their fish catch to survive. The effects of these Chinese criminal actions therefore extend to the Philippines’ coast of Luzon.”

Xi

They also cited the ramming and sinking of Filipino fishing boat Gem-Ver near Recto Bank in June 2019 as another incident that occurred within the country’s EEZ, and that China directly put in danger 22 Filipino fishermen.

The team argued that the facts of the case show that ICC has “strong basis” to proceed with the cases filed against China’s leaders, saying they want to hold Xi and his men criminally liable and imprisoned under the ICC statute. 

If accepted by ICC, Del Rosario warned that warrants of arrest against Xi and Yi could ban them from visiting ICC state parties like South Korea, Japan, and Australia.

“They planned it, they implemented it, and they continue to commit their crimes against Filipinos and all the coastal inhabitants of the South China Sea.” he added.

The Philippines has been citing the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea in insisting its control in the West Philippine Sea.