Ruling flawed on jurisdiction grounds

The Philippines, the United States, Japan and Vietnam have demanded that China abide by the arbitral tribunal's ruling on a case initiated by the Philippines against China over the South China Sea dispute to avoid violating international law.

Apparently, the arbitral proceedings were based on the articles of Annex VII of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. But the tribunal committed mistakes in the identification of the South China Sea dispute between Beijing and Manila and applying its legal provisions. Since the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the case, its ruling was bound to be null and void.

Whether China's maritime entitlements in the South China Sea are beyond the scope of UNCLOS, two facts can answer this. First, UNCLOS is a charter to regulate the international maritime order but does not regulate all international maritime issues. In its introduction, UNCLOS admits it cannot handle all maritime issues and emphasizes that issues not stipulated by it should be dealt with in accordance with the rules and principles of general international laws. For example, UNCLOS has no provision on the baseline of the territorial seas of a country's islands far out in the sea.