The much-awaited ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the maritime dispute in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China was finally delivered. Taken together, it was nothing short of a comprehensive rejection of Chinese claims. As expected, China has summarily rejected the decision. How will ASEAN deal with a defiant China?

The long-awaited ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, on a case filed by the Philippines against China over maritime rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea, has finally been delivered. The ruling, announced on 12 July 2016, was comprehensive in its rejection of China’s vast and expansive claims in the South China Sea.

The hardest blow to China was that the Tribunal concluded “there was no legal basis for China to claim historical rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line’ ”. The Tribunal also ruled that Chinese actions in the South China Sea such as persistent interference with Philippine fishing and exploration activities; large scale land reclamation and construction of artificial islands; failure to regulate its own fishing activities; and enforcement activities in the same area; were either in violation of the sovereign rights of the Philippines, or had breached various obligations under the Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

… Jane Chan is Research Fellow and Coordinator of the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Joseph Chinyong Liow is Dean of RSIS and currently Lee Kuan Yew chair in Southeast Asian Studies at Brookings Institution, Washington DC.