Chinese students were taught of ‘false narrative’ about South China Sea, Carpio says

Students in China have been taught of a "false narrative" as regards the country's territorial claims in the South China Sea, Supreme Court Associate  Justice Antonio Carpio said on Thursday.

"China said Chinese activities in the South China Sea started 2,000 years ago... China said it is the first country to discover, name and explore resources in the South China Sea. This is the historical narrative of China to claim the South China Sea. Every Chinese of grade school to college has been taught with this narrative and they have been believing this," Carpio said in a forum.

Carpio expressed concern that this is actually a dilemma of the Philippine government as it is clear that the Philippines has sovereign rights in the resource-rich region.

"That's our problem because we've won the arbitration..." Carpio said.

"Every Chinese diplomat, general, admiral, professionals, and businessmen know this by heart... The Chinese government can't comply with the ruling until the Chinese people changed their minds because if the Chinese government complies with the ruling, the Chinese people might throw them out," he added.

Carpio has been saying that the Philippine government must strongly assert its territorial rights in the South China Sea.

"We should not slacken... we should continue to push because there are many avenues. We should protest, file cases," Carpio said.

In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated Beijing's claim over most of the resource-rich region.

The Duterte administration, however, set aside the ruling and chose to maintain warm ties with China as it believes that the country can be a partner for the Philippines' economic projects. — RSJ, GMA News