China's "SCS claims are Invalid according to UNCLOS on a legal victory for the Philippines over China.
China reaffirmed its claim over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea after the Philippine government removed the floating barrier to prevent Filipino fishing boats from entering the area. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the shoal and its adjacent waters are China’s inherent territory, and therefore Beijing has indisputable sovereign rights in the disputed waters.
The Chinese claims are mostly based on its historical rights during the Han Dynasty, dating back over 2,000 years ago. In modern history, China backed its sovereignty claim and related rights over this territory following the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. After World War II Japan returned to China the Chinese territories it had occupied, including Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, the Xisha Islands, and the Nansha Islands.
However, the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea invalidated China’s historical claims over the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
The tribunal dealt with the question of whether China’s claims to historic rights within the nine-dash line, now the 10-dash line were in conformity with UNCLOS. It was first observed that this area – in which China claimed rights, formed in the long historical course, to living and non-living resources like fisheries and petroleum resources – partially overlaps with areas that would otherwise comprise the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf of the Philippines.
In the view of the tribunal, Unclos establishes a comprehensive maritime zones regime and allocates rights in these areas to the coastal state and other states. In the areas of the EEZ and the continental shelf, the coastal state enjoys exclusive sovereign rights to the exploitation of living and non-living natural resources.
Concerning the rights of other states in these areas, the tribunal found that Unclos does not permit the preservation of the historic rights of any state within the EEZ or the continental shelf of another state. Therefore, after the entry into force of Unclos, the historic rights that might have existed for China within the nine-dash line in areas that would otherwise include the EEZ or the CS of the Philippines were superseded by the maritime zone’s regime created by Unclos.
That means the pre-existing historic rights no longer exist as they are not compatible with UNCLOS. Accordingly, the tribunal concluded that China’s claims were contrary to UNCLOS and exceeded the geographic limits imposed by it.
The award addresses three main substantive issues first the so-called nine-dash line and China’s claim to historic rights in the South China Sea. Second, the status of certain maritime features in the South China Sea, and Third the legality of Chinese activities in the South China Sea. Because of jurisdictional limits, however, the Arbitral Tribunal did not deal with matters related to territorial sovereignty over the disputed maritime features between the parties.
That means that the tribunal did not decide who owned the maritime features in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly Islands, claimed by China and the Philippines or any other coastal state in the region. Similarly, the tribunal did not delimit maritime boundaries between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.
The tribunal also ruled on the legality of the activities of Chinese officials and Chinese vessels in the areas of the South China Sea located within the Philippines’ EEZ and continental shelf. It concluded that China breached the provisions of Unclos, in particular by temporarily prohibiting fishing in areas of the South China Sea falling within the Philippines’ EEZ.
Failing to prevent Chinese vessels from fishing in the Philippines’ EEZ at Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal, and preventing Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing at Scarborough Shoal. Regarding China’s construction of artificial islands, installations, and structures at Mischief Reef – an LTE that is part of the Philippines’ EEZ and continental shelf – without the authorization of the Philippines, the tribunal also found China to have violated UNCLOS.
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