contested borders

• South China Sea

  • 22 January 2013: the Republic of the Philippines instituted arbitral proceedings against the People’s Republic of China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 
  • The case concerned the role of historic rights and the source of maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, and the consequent justification of 'lawful' certain actions by China deemed to be in violation of the Convention.  
• • The Permanent Court of Arbitration said on 12 July 2016 that there was no evidence that China had exercised exclusive control historically over the waterway.
  • Major elements of China’s claim—including its nine-dash line, recent land reclamation activities, and other activities in Philippine waters—were unlawful. Predictably, China reacted negatively to the ruling, maintaining it was “null and void.”
  • China’s land reclamation and creeping militarisation continues unabated, while its vessels regularly intrude into Filipino waters.