In rejecting the arbitral award on the South China Sea (SCS), Beijing has made it clearer than ever that it has no intention to seamlessly integrate into the existing international order. After more than three years of deliberation, the tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has made it remarkably clear that China’s extensive historical rights claims to maritime areas within the so-called “nine-dash line” are incompatible with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and therefore illegitimate. The tribunal also underscored that none of the land features claimed by China qualify as an “island,” which would in turn warrant the claiming of an exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS. There can be no doubt that China has suffered a massive defeat. Read more
