Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Part of the book cover of Justice Carpio's book (screenshot). 


The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea by Justice Antonio Carpio is now available for download from the website of the Institute of Maritime and Ocean Affairs.

The book collates over 140 lectures and speeches delivered by Justice Antonio Carpio on the South China Sea in various fora in the Philippines and abroad.  

“Upon the suggestion of Mr. Paul S. Reichler, the lead lawyer of the Philippines in the arbitration case against China, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario requested me to undertake a lecture tour in 2015 to explain to the world the South China Sea dispute. With the permission of the Supreme Court En Banc, I gladly embarked on the lecture tour. In the thirty cities in seventeen foreign countries that I visited, I spoke before the leading universities, think tanks, foreign ministries, and Filipino communities.”

The book features the following chapters on: 

  • The South China Sea and the Austronesians
  • United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
  • Root Cause of the South China Sea Dispute
  • Inter-State Disputes in the South China Sea
  • South China Sea Arbitration Case: Republic of the Philippines vs. People’s Republic of China
  • China’s Historic Rights Claim
  • Geologic Features in the Spratlys
  • China-Occupied Geologic Features in the Spratlys 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Justice Antonio T. Carpio was sworn in as a member of the Philippine Supreme Court on 26 October 2001. He obtained his law degree from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) where he graduated valedictorian and cum laude in 1975. He earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1970. Justice Carpio practiced law in the private sector from 1976 until 1992, when he was appointed Chief Presidential Legal Counsel in the Office of the President of the Philippines. He was a Professorial Lecturer at the U.P. College of Law from 1983 until 1992, and served as a member of the U.P. Board of Regents from 1993 to 1998. For his “distinguished and exemplary service” to the Republic of the Philippines, he received in 1998 the Presidential Medal of Merit from then President Fidel V. Ramos. Justice Carpio is the Chair of the Second Division of the Supreme Court and Chair of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (Quoted from the Book). 


The Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. The Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website. For other news and upcoming events at the Asian Center, click here.