The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rushed to dispel the myth that it was involved in the South China Sea arbitration case filed by the Philippines, just as the United Nations made a similar online clarification.
The ICJ, the UNâs principal organ of justice, issued a notice on its website that it is âa totally distinct institutionâ from the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which offered secretarial assistance to the Arbitral Tribunal that ruled on the case. The ICJ said it âhas had no involvement inâ that case.
It pointed out that it has posted no information about the case on its website and said that anyone seeking such information must refer to the PCAâs website.
On Wednesday, the UN said on its Sina Weibo micro blog that it âhas nothing to do withâ the PCA, though the ICJ is located in the Peace Palace in The Hague, as is the PCA.
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday that these clarifications âshow there is no legitimacy or representativeness to how the temporary tribunal was composed and operated, as well as show that its so-called ruling has no authority or credibility at all, and is totally invalid and not binding.
âIt seems that this also is the reason why after this illegal ruling came out, only three or four countries wishfully claimed that it was âlegally bindingâ,â Lu said.
Zhao Jianwen, a researcher at the Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the reason the UN and the ICJ made such statements is that they âwant to stay clearâ of the ruling in the arbitration case, which, as Zhao said quoting Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, might become âa notorious caseâ.
Zhao said âAll of the tribunalâs expenses were paid by the Philippines, including its arbitratorsâ wages, and these expertsâ opinions are not neutralâ. Also, the tribunal has no substantive relation with the PCA, he added.
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The only relation between them is that the PCA offered secretarial service to the tribunal and the tribunal was held in the PCAâs hall, Zhao explained.
Zhao pointed out that the Arbitral Tribunal was a temporary one set up specially for proceeding the South China Sea case, and its work was âvirtually doneâ once the ruling was issued.
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