Over 160 countries and the European Union have signed on to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The United States, however, has long declined to do so. Now, China has indicated that it might exit the convention if an upcoming ruling by an international tribunal runs counter to its questionable […]

The UN arbitration court will soon rule on the case, brought by the Philippines against China, over who owns the Scarborough Shoal, located in the South China Sea (SCS). It is all but certain that China will reject the ruling, no matter what it says, because Beijing has already decided that the SCS is a […]

BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) — Dozens of countries have expressed support for China’s stance on the South China Sea dispute, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Tuesday. Hua at a regular news briefing rejected reports that only eight countries back China on the issue, saying, “I knew some Western media sometimes call black white […]

On Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry said the two nations do not have any territorial disputes, but there were some overlapping claims on “maritime rights and interests”. But Jakarta has objected to China’s inclusion of waters around the Indonesian-ruled Natuna Islands within a “nine-dash line” Beijing marks on maps to show its claim on the body […]

Indonesia’s recent diplomatic protest to China over the resumption of alleged illegal trans-border fishing near the waters of the Natuna Islands marks a new episode of conflict management in the South China Sea. The scholar Ann Marie Murphy in 2014 predicted the unavoidable “game changer” in the South China Sea after Indonesia officially protested China’s […]

Any day now, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to hand down its ruling in the Philippines case against China over its claims in the South China Sea. US Navy chief Admiral John Richardson said it wasn’t very often two aircraft carriers and their strike groups were sent to the same […]

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – If an international court deems the Philippines is right to claim the disputed South China Sea, will the United States help the Philippines exercise its rights? President-elect Rodrigo Duterte voiced out this concern during a business forum on Tuesday, June 21, in Davao City. He revealed that he has asked this […]

Tensions over competing territorial claims in the resource-rich South China Sea have spiked in recent months as claimant countries, including China and the Philippines, await an upcoming decision by an international tribunal. That body, located at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, is widely expected to rule in the Philippines’ favor. But China […]

China is facing a potential decision point in its moves to assert its claims over much of the South China Sea. Beijing has reportedly told some Asian nations that it may withdraw from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) if the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The […]

Rumors are swirling that the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) arbitral tribunal will release its long-awaited award in Philippines v. China this week. China has already said it will not comply with the award, but it is clearly worried that a negative award will isolate China diplomatically or weaken its future […]