Mangrove Forum in International Relations
The Mangrove Forum on International Relations is the Foreign Service Institute's premier platform for discussion of issues and problems in foreign policy, diplomacy, and international relations.
Left to right, from the top row: Professor Donald R. Rothwell FAAL (Australian National University), Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Ms. Vo Ngoc Diep (Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam), Mr. Gregory B. Poling (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Dr. iur. Damos Dumoli Agusman (Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and Director-General Jose Maria A. Cariño (Foreign Service Institute).
Is There Convergence on the South China Sea Arbitration Award? Legal Experts Weigh In
There is a certain level of convergence of views among claimant and user states on the final Award in the South China Sea Arbitration, legal experts within and outside the region acknowledged during the online Mangrove Forum organized by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) on 21 January 2021. The Award, issued on 12 July 2016, favored the Philippines.
The Mangrove Forum on International Relations: “Convergence on the Arbitration Award? Untangling Recent Developments in the South China Sea” discussed the actions and statements of claimant and user states in the South China Sea in 2020 and assessed the significance of these developments. The forum was in partnership with the US Embassy in the Philippines.
Mangrove Forum Tackles South China Sea Issue
“Stop doing it and make some friends!”
This is what Bill Hayton, prolific British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigative journalist and author of the 2014 book The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia, said in his editorial response to the representative of the Chinese Embassy at FSI’s Mangrove Forum on International Relations held at the Bulwagang Apolinario Mabini, Department of Foreign Affairs., on 13 February 2015.
Mr. Hayton was joined by former National Security Adviser and West Philippine Sea Coalition (WPSC) Co-Convenor Rep. Roilo Golez at the speakers’ table.
Mr. Bill Hayton (left) explains the role of history in the conception of China's nine-dash line. Hon. Roilo Golez discusses about the geopolitical factors of the South China Sea disputes.
Prof. Hasjim Djalal, Senior Advisor to the Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, stresses the importance of the archipelagic doctrine for archipelagic countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
Prof. Hasjim Djalal Discusses "UNCLOS and the Archipelagic Doctrine" at the Mangrove Forum on International Relations
In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Philippines’ ratification and the 20th year of the entering into force of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) hosted a Mangrove Forum on “UNCLOS and the Archipelagic Doctrine”on 18 November 2014 at the Bulwagang Apolinario Mabini, Department of Foreign Affairs. Prof. Hasjim Djalal, Senior Advisor to the Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and Vice Chairman of the Indonesia Delegation to the Law of the Sea Conference from 1969 to 1982, was the guest speaker.
Prof. Djalal shared the Indonesian experience in pushing for the recognition of the archipelagic doctrine during the UNCLOS negotiations. He emphasized that for large multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic archipelagic countries such as Indonesia, sovereignty over the waters between the islands is critical to attaining national unity. He also recounted how the concept of archipelagic state was a product of concerted efforts by Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji, and Mauritius in asserting the rights and privileges of archipelagic countries.