China Loses UNCLOS Suit

Not Unexpected, but important.

An international tribunal has ruled against Chinese claims to rights in the South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration said there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources.

China called the ruling "ill-founded" and says it will not be bound by it.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others...

Click to expand...

The Chinese, of course, responded by rejecting the ruling out of hand and announcing they had no intention of allowing themselves to be ruled by it. Whether Duterte's government will toss this victory away or not remains to be seen.

cpwill said:

Not Unexpected, but important.




The Chinese, of course, responded by rejecting the ruling out of hand and announcing they had no intention of allowing themselves to be ruled by it. Whether Duterte's government will toss this victory away or not remains to be seen.

Click to expand...

Nothing about that is surprising and you are quite right. It is very important.

So what now? China and USA will be testing the waters.

I hope a large typhoon wipes out the Chinese effort on those rocks.

cpwill said:

Not Unexpected, but important.




The Chinese, of course, responded by rejecting the ruling out of hand and announcing they had no intention of allowing themselves to be ruled by it. Whether Duterte's government will toss this victory away or not remains to be seen.

Click to expand...

Chinese are now officially outlaws.




[h=3]Beijing’s claims to South China Sea rejected by international tribunal[/h]
A court ruled that China’s claims to virtually all of the sea have no legal or historical basis.

• Simon Denyer, Emily Rauhala
• ·
• 3 hours ago

Jack Hays said:

Chinese are now officially outlaws.




[h=3]Beijing’s claims to South China Sea rejected by international tribunal[/h]
A court ruled that China’s claims to virtually all of the sea have no legal or historical basis.

• Simon Denyer, Emily Rauhala
• ·
• 3 hours ago

Click to expand...

Duterte is in charge now, though. We'll see if he makes a deal or not.

Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

cpwill said:

Not Unexpected, but important.

The Chinese, of course, responded by rejecting the ruling out of hand and announcing they had no intention of allowing themselves to be ruled by it. Whether Duterte's government will toss this victory away or not remains to be seen.

Click to expand...

The Philippines alone has little power to oppose the Chinese. Their best bet is to continue their cooperation with the other ASEAN nations with South China Sea territorial claims, especially Indonesia and Vietnam.

But without US help even a united ASEAN can't reasonably oppose China in this dispute. The US has its own problems since it hasn't signed the UNCLOS treaty and probably won't if Republicans retain or expand power in Washington. And if the US doesn't sign TPP, China's already strong economic grip in Southeast Asia will only get tighter.

The only thing holding back the Chinese Navy is China's own economic woes and they are only temporary. We'll see if the U.S. Navy wants to engage in a shooting war over tiny South China Seas islands. My guess is that it won't.