Latest in Philippines v. China
The tribunal in Philippines v. China made four sweeping observations that are worth examining five years after the award.
Malaysia and Indonesia lawfare salvos against China, the first made-in-China aircraft carrier and a Japanese military strategy for the South China Sea.
A year ago today, an arbitral tribunal formed pursuant to the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea issued a blockbuster award finding much of China’s conduct in the South China Sea in violation of international law. As I detailed that day on this blog and elsewhere, the Philippines won about as big a legal victory as it could have expected. But as many of us also warned that day, a legal victory is not the same as an actual victory.
The wait is over: a judgment has been issued in the Philippines v. China South China Sea arbitration. A five-judge tribunal constituted under the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague has released its much-anticipated Award concerning the Philippines’ challenge to a number of China’s maritime claims and activities in the region.