We all know that The Philippines and China have been fighting over a group of islands for a long

time now. These islands are called the Spratly Islands. A few weeks ago, the International
Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines, concluding that China has no legal basis
to claim historic rights to the bulk of South China Sea. But of course, China being China, rejected
the decision by the permanent Court of Arbitration. China will never accept any claim or action
based on those awards, the Chinese president said. China had boycotted the proceedings. The
tribunal concluded that China doesnt have the right to resources within its nine dash line, which
extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and covers some
90% of the disputed waters.
The first time I found out about the nine dash line and Chinas claims, I though, Seriously? Even
the ones that clearly belong to the other countries? Back then, when China announced its claim, a
few neighbouring countries raised protests which caused the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea to be born. See that? that was all caused by Chinas greediness. The United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or the UNCLOS nowadays serves as the major legal
base for other South East Asia countries to protest against China. It really was unfair for other
countries that China claimed everything within the nine dash line because it meant that their
vessels could not pass through the territory of China.
We now move on to the background of the arbitration case called the Philippines v. China. It was
an arbitration case brought by the Republic of the Philippines under the arbitration provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) against the People's Republic of
China concerning certain issues in the South China Sea including the legality of China's "ninedotted line" claim over the South China Sea under the UNCLOS. On 19 February 2013, China
officially refused to participate in the arbitration because, according to China, its 2006 declaration
under article 298 covers the disputes brought by the Philippines and that this case concerns
sovereignty, thus it deems the arbitral tribunal formed for the case has no jurisdiction over the
issue. On 7 December 2014, a position paper was published by China to elaborate its position. On
29 October 2015, the arbitral tribunal ruled that it has jurisdiction over the case, taking up seven of
the 15 submissions made by the Philippines. On 12 July 2016, the tribunal ruled in favor of the
Philippines against China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea; in its major ruling, the
tribunal ruled that China has "no historical rights" based on the "nine-dash line" map. China has
rejected the ruling, as have Taiwan. Why cant China just accept the fact that they lost? I mean,
even though youre a powerful nation, it doesnt give you the right to bully the smaller countries.
The arbitration involved the Philippines and China. The Philippines contended that the "nine-dotted
line" claim by China is invalid because it violates the UNCLOS agreements about exclusive
economic zones and territorial seas. It says that because most of the features in the South China
Sea, such as most of the Spratly Islands, cannot sustain life, they cannot be given their own
continental shelf as defined in the convention. China refused to participate in the arbitration, stating
that several treaties with the Philippines stipulate that bilateral negotiations be used to resolve
border disputes. It also accuses the Philippines of violating the voluntary Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, made in 2002 between ASEAN and China, which also
stipulated bilateral negotiations as the means of resolving border and other disputes. In my opinion,

I think that China refused to participate because they knew that they were going to lose which they
did.
After the ruling, different governments spoke out their opinions. On 15 July 2016, Australian
defense minister and foreign minister stated that the ruling is legal and binding, thus urged all
parties involved in the dispute to "abide by the ruling". The ministers also further described the
court's ruling as "consistent" with the nation's historical position. I agree with him because in order
for us to have peace, we should follow the rulings to avoid further disagreements. On 12 July 2016,
Indian ministry of external affairs stated that the country supports freedom of navigation, and urged
all parties to demonstrate an utmost respect for the UNCLOS. We should respect the decision of
UNCLOS since all the countries agreed to sign their treaty. On 13 July 2016, Indonesia called on all
parties involved in the territorial dispute to exercise self-restraint and to respect applicable
international laws. As I have said, we should respect the laws because all the countries already
agreed to them. On 16 July 2016, Japan stated that the arbitration court's ruling "is legally binding
and must be respected by all parties," thus urged Beijing to respect and comply the ruling. On 12
July 2016, Singapore urged that all parties involved in the South China Sea dispute to respect the
legal and diplomatic processes. On 13 July 2016, South Korea stated that the country supports
freedom of navigation and overflight in South China Sea, and support the peaceful means in
resolving dispute according to international law. On 12 July 2016, Vietnam immediately welcomed
the arbitration tribunal ruling, thus announced that the country supports peace and order, also
freedom of navigation and overflight in the region. All the countries stated above encourage
everyone to respect the ruling because that really is the right thing to do.
While there are countries that support the arbitration, there are also those who dont. In May 2016,
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that there're more than 40 countries
that had expressed their support on China's position. In June 2016, it has been reported nearly 60
countries support China's position. In July 2016, it was reported that more than 70 countries
expressed their support on China's position. Even though there are a lot of countries that oppose
the arbitration, we should just respect the decision of the arbitration to avoid fighting.

The Philippines has presented five main claims before the tribunal. China is not entitled to exercise
what it calls "historic rights" over waters beyond limits defined in UNCLOS, a treaty to which both
the Philippines and China are parties. China's "nine-dash line" has no basis under international
law. The various maritime features relied upon by China to assert its claims in the South China Sea
are not in fact islands and, as such, are not legally capable of generating such entitlements.
China's recent massive artificial island-building does not change the situation.China violated
UNCLOS by preventing the Philippines from exercising its fishing and exploration rights. China has
irreversibly damaged the environment by destroying coral reefs, using harmful fishing practices,
and catching endangered species in the South China Sea. What Im saying is that Philippines
deserves the territory more than China does. The Philippines needs that territory for a lot of
reasons that can help develop the country. While China will just use it to damage the environment
even more.

Under previous president Benigno Aquino, the Philippines said it had exhausted all political and
diplomatic avenues to settle the dispute following 17 years of negotiations with China.The
Philippines calls international law "the great equaliser" allowing small countries to challenge more
powerful states. A nation of about 100 million, the Philippines has one of Asia's weakest militaries,
and its economic and diplomatic clout pales in comparison with Chinas. Smaller countries should
not be afraid of the big ones just because theyre weak or because they dont have a chance. The
Philippines set a good example for those little countries that get pushed around. Each and every
country is important and should be treated equally.
China denies the tribunal has jurisdiction on the issue and insists that it will ignore the decision.
President Xi Jinping said China would never compromise on sovereignty and warned it was "not
afraid of trouble". But it is unclear how aggressively China will react. China could choose to
withdraw from UNCLOS, or begin building on Scarborough Shoal, a fishing ground within the
Philippines' exclusive economic zone that it seized control of in 2012. China could also declare an
air defence identification zone over the sea, claiming the right to interrogate aircraft passing
through the airspace.Or it could seek to defuse tensions with the Philippines and enter into direct
negotiations. The Philippines hopes a favourable ruling will help to build international pressure on
China to make concessions and reverse or stall its expansionist efforts in the sea. For instance, the
United States has already called on both sides to respect the ruling. The Philippines also hopes a
favourable ruling will give it much-needed leverage in any negotiations with China. Ultimately the
Philippines wants China to sign a code of conduct for the sea. Im hoping that China will eventually
respect the decision and it will not come to the point where there will be war between countries.