A decade on, 14 nations reaffirm a South China Sea ruling China rejects

(Edited and refined by Candice Chan and Grace Chong, with the assistance of AI translation.)

On the tenth anniversary of the South China Sea arbitration ruling, the US departed from its previous practice of issuing a statement on its own, instead joining the Philippines, Japan, Australia and 11 other countries in reaffirming that the ruling is final, legally binding and conclusive.

China responded that the ruling was nothing but a worthless piece of paper that is illegal, null and void, and has no binding force. It said the ruling had become a “stumbling block” affecting China-Philippines relations and peace and stability in the South China Sea, which China calls Nanhai (南海, South Sea), and urged the countries concerned to stop “stirring up trouble”.

Academics interviewed said the 14-nation joint statement was intended to use the tenth anniversary of the arbitration ruling as an opportunity to continue applying pressure on China through legal and public opinion strategies, with the aim of internationalising the South China Sea issue.

Statements and counter-statements

The US, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Britain and eight other countries issued a statement on 11 July commemorating the “landmark ruling” delivered by an arbitral tribunal on the South China Sea dispute in 2016.

The South China Sea arbitral tribunal, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, handed down its ruling on 12 July 2016 in a case brought by the Philippines. It found that China’s claim to historic rights in the South China Sea based on the “nine-dash line” had no basis in international law, and affirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements within its exclusive economic zone. Beijing has consistently refused to accept or recognise the ruling.

The joint statement by the 14 countries reaffirmed the ruling and strongly opposed “China’s use of its coast guard and other forces to harass, obstruct or intimidate lawful operations by other States at sea or in the air”.

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a statement on 12 July that the country would continue to promote the implementation of the arbitration ruling, and regarded its tenth anniversary as an important opportunity to strengthen national resolve and deepen partnerships with like-minded countries.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that evening reiterating that China’s position on the South China Sea arbitration case was “clear, consistent and firm”. It said China does not accept or recognise the ruling, and opposes and does not accept any claim or action based on it.

The statement said: “For the past 10 years, the ‘award’ has not only failed to resolve the maritime issues between China and the Philippines, but instead has become a tool for the Philippines to expand its territorial and maritime claims, exacerbated tensions in the region and provided a pretext for external forces to intervene and destabilise the South China Sea.”

China’s Ministry of State Security published a statement the same day reiterating the country’s refusal to accept the ruling, while China’s ambassador to the Philippines wrote in the state-run People’s Daily that the ruling was illegal and absurd, and that its toxic legacy should be thoroughly eradicated.

Batanes Islands emerge as a new flashpoint

Teodoro described the remarks as “baseless” and “ludicrous”, warning that they could signal Beijing’s broader ambition to dominate the entire Pacific Ocean and must be firmly resisted. Brigadier General Romualdo Raymund Landingin stressed that the Philippines will not surrender “even an inch” of the Batanes Islands. Beijing, however, has yet to publicly comment on the sovereignty claim.

Li Mingjiang, an associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), told Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) that unilateral US statements had historically exerted only limited pressure on China, whereas a joint statement backed by more than a dozen allies would clearly carry far greater international weight.

Zhu Feng, professor and dean of the School of International Studies at Nanjing University, said in an interview that the joint statement reflected attempts by some extra-regional countries to strengthen the legitimacy of their diplomatic, political, legal and military involvement in the South China Sea. However, he argued that “the statement further politicises the arbitral ruling and could heighten anxiety and unease among other countries in the region”.

Linked to Japan-Philippines maritime boundary talks

Regarding the dispute between China and the Philippines over the Batanes Islands, interviewed academics agreed that it is linked to the ongoing negotiations between Japan and the Philippines to delimit their exclusive economic zones. Situated between Taiwan and the Philippines, the Batanes Islands are a key variable in those boundary negotiations.

Lye Liang Fook, an associate senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told LHZB that the Batanes Islands could emerge as a new flashpoint. 

“China appears to be saying that if Japan and the Philippines go down this road, then Beijing could take a tougher stand with regard to the Batanes Islands,” he noted.

Li expressed a similar view, but said he considered a substantive confrontation unlikely. He said China is using the issue as a countermeasure by introducing a new point of contention and shaping the public narrative around it.

Lye said the situation in the South China Sea has become far more complex than it was a decade ago. He expects China to further step up its maritime activities in the region, while regional countries will continue to look to the US to offer an effective counterweight to China.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “美菲日等14国发表南中国海仲裁10周年声明 中国促停止挑事生非”.

Related: Law alone won’t save the South China Sea | Are China-Philippines tensions sinking the South China Sea Code of Conduct?