In what is a major blow to China, the Arbitral Tribunal that ruled on the case brought by the Philippines against China’s claims in the South China Sea has invalidated the “nine-dash line” on which these claims are based.

In its award released yesterday, the United Nations-backed tribunal found China’s claim to “historic rights” to resources within the line to be incompatible with the allocation of rights and maritime zones under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

Any historic rights China might have to resources in the waters “were extinguished” when Unclos came into force, in 1994, it said.

… “It will still regard the nine-dash line as a line that allows China to exercise its historical rights,” said Associate Professor Li Mingjiang of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.