Philippine says its actions in China don't compromise rule of law

Tokyo

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte has not "set aside" the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that China does not have sovereign rights over the Scarborough shoal in the South China Sea, and as a fishing ground, a leading Philippine politician and law professor has claimed.

"At no point have we abandoned the decision of the tribunal," Harry Roque, a member of the Philippine Congress and professor of law at the University of the Philippines, who accompanied Mr Duterte on his recent trip to Beijing, said in Tokyo. The president's words and actions in Beijing have succeeded in restoring access to waters around the Scarborough Shoal for Philippine fishermen, said Mr Roque, who represents the fishermens' interests.