China asserts sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped every year, despite rival claims from the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.
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In a statement released straight after the ruling, the Philippines government said it “strongly affirms its respect for this milestone decision as an important contribution to ongoing disputes in the South China Sea”.
The Philippines has asked the tribunal to declare China’s claims and actions invalid under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. China’s stand of neither participating in, nor accepting the arbitration, and neither recognizing, nor honoring the verdict not only safeguards its core interests but also worldwide law.
The International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration under Annex 7 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) said China’s 9-dash-line in South China has no legal basis.
The Philippines brought a total of 15 complaints against China.
“The ASEM leaders summit is not a suitable place to discuss the South China Sea”.
Former President Benigno Aquino III and his foreign secretary, Albert Del Rosario, has often said in regard to the maritime dispute with China: “What is ours is ours”. The topic was also the most widely discussed on Chinese social network Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, with hundreds of thousands of users sharing a map of China with its nine-dash line and the caption “China can’t be one dash less”.
According to the worldwide tribunal, “the Philippines has requested that the Tribunal determine the status – as an island, rock, low-tide elevation, or submerged feature – of nine maritime features, namely: Scarborough Shoal, Mischief Reef, Second Thomas Shoal, Subi Reef, Gaven Reef, and McKennan Reef (including Hughes Reef), Johnson Reef, Cuarteron Reef, and Fiery Cross Reef”.
Therefore, if the tribunal rules that nothing that China occupies in the Spratly Islands is a proper island, it will be unable to claim land rights of 200 nautical miles.
However, man-made islands, like those China has been building, aren’t counted under UNCLOS.
Chheang Vannarith, a senior research fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said the verdict, which is expected to at least partially favor the Philippines, would put pressure on the Chinese leadership to resolve the dispute. Ignoring the tribunal could further raise tensions in the region.
– China and the Philippines are among the 167 parties that have signed and ratified UNCLOS.
– Chinese analysts say the South China Sea will only grow in importance for Beijing, particularly as its submarine base on Hainan Island will be crucial to China’s future nuclear deterrent.
Japan, which is involved in a separate territorial dispute with China in the East China Sea, said its military would closely monitor Chinese activity after the ruling. China says the issues must be resolved through bilateral negotiations.
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– Founded in 1899, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is the oldest global judicial institution with 117 member countries.
