Circle the wagons

WE NEED not defend our position on the territorial and maritime dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea all by our lonesome.

Seven years after the Permanent Arbitral Tribunal issued a ruling in favor of the country’s claim to a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the vital sealane, we’re on the right track in asking other countries to support us in our crusade.

We’re glad that no less than 16 European countries are supporting us in asserting our sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea. In a joint statement issued on July 11, these countries— Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden unequivocally backed the Philippines’ territorial integrity in the busy waterway. The embassies of the 16 countries cited the importance of the ruling, which is based

We on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

They believe it is “a significant milestone” in contributing to the maintenance of rulesbased order and the settlement of disputes. They are correct in pointing out that the 2026 arbitral ruling is “legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings, and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between parties.”

“The EU (European Union) reiterates the fundamental importance of upholding the freedoms, rights, and duties established in UNCLOS, in particular the freedoms of navigation and overflight,” the European