Philippines wins battle at Hague over South China Sea

Protesters celebrate winning the case, filed in 2013 after China took control of a reef about 140 miles from the Philippines coast. Picture: Getty

The ruling by the five- member panel at The Hague handed a massive victory to the Philippines, which had filed the case in 2013 challenging the so-called nine-dash line that China uses to claim virtually the entire South China Sea.

Officials in Manila opposed it because it infringes upon its own 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Chinese President Xi Jinping repeated Beijing’s stance that the South China Sea has been Chinese territory since “ancient times” and said  China’s territorial sovereignty and interests in the region would not be influenced under any circumstances by the ruling.

No legal basis for Chinas claiming much of the South China Sea. Picture: AP

“This farce is now over,” said Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “China opposes and will never accept any claim or action based on those awards.”

The ministry repeated China’s stance that the Philippines’ move to initiate arbitration without China’s consent had been in “bad faith” and in violation of international law.

The tribunal also said China had violated its obligations to refrain from aggravating the dispute while the settlement process was ongoing and also ruled that China’s large-scale land reclamation and construction of artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and the natural condition of the disputed areas.

Analysts said the ruling dealt a major blow to China’s South China Sea strategy by potentially providing ammunition to the arguments of other countries involved in  maritime disputes with China.

Six governments have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea – China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. In addition, China’s nine-dash line overlaps waters which are part of Indonesia’s internationally recognized exclusive economic zone.

“It goes much farther than most people expected that this was going to go. It’s really devastating for China,” said  Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

She said the ruling also meant the Philippines would have less of an incentive to talk to China about sharing or jointly developing resources in the South China Sea.

Chen Xiangmiao, a  researcher at the Chinese government-backed National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said the ruling was “very unfair” but he urged China to tone down its rhetoric against the arbitration process.

A strategic next step should be heightened diplomatic dialogue with the Philippines and Vietnam, he said. “Successful bilateral negotiation to work around the ruling would be an effective repudiation of the arbitration.”

But China might choose to take a hard line with the Philippines, perhaps taking punitive measures such as sanctions, to send a message to other claimants, said Chinese military expert Yue Gang, a retired colonel.

He added: “When it comes to the territorial integrity, China has no way to retreat and make concession.”

The European Council’s president told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that in dealing with the South China Sea dispute, it was in the interest of both sides to protect a global order underpinned by rules.

And European Council President Donald Tusksaid: “The rule-based international order is in our common interest and both China and the EU have to protect it, as this is in our people’s best interest.”