An Analysis Of The South China Sea Arbitration Between The Republic Of The Philippines And The People’s Republic Of China From The Perspective Of International Law

On July 12th 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague released the award on "the maritime jurisdiction" of the South China Sea dispute which initiated by the Philippines in January 2013,subject to the compulsory arbitration.The arbitration award is of more than 500 pages,in which the arbitral tribunal ruled on all the 15 claims submitted by the Philippines.The award denied the nine-dash line and the historic rights claimed by Chine within the South China Sea.The arbitral tribunal recognized the maritime rights of the Philippines over the Second Thomas Shoal Island and other eight island and reefs.Meanwhile,it pointed out that the constructions which conducted by China in the South China Sea are illegal.Finally,the arbitral tribunal ruled that China’s activities in the South China Sea are destructive to the marine environment and they were considered to interfere with the Philippines’ traditional fishing industry.Though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the people’s republic of China has repeatedly reaffirmed that the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over the South China Sea dispute,the arbitral tribunal held a compulsory arbitration and it ruled on the issues of the maritime delimitation which essentially refers to the territorial sovereignty.No matter from the perspective of politics or law,there are many related literature about South China Sea,whereas this thesis will focus on the final award.By combining the numerous documents submitted by the Philippines and the fact that China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea,the thesis will analyze and discuss the composition of the arbitration tribunal and the entity issues of the award as well.The conclusion is that the tribunal’s award in the South China Sea arbitration initiated by the Philippines is null and void.At the same time,thus the relevant resolution to the South China Sea dispute will be summarized.The main part of the thesis is divided into five parts based on the classification of the submissions.The first chapter is about the background of the South China Sea arbitration and the statements of China and the Philippines.The Chapter two is the analysis of the award on the jurisdiction and admissibility of the arbitration.The Chapter three focuses on the substantial issues of the award,including the legal status of the nine-dash line;the comparison between the historic rights and the historical titles;the legal status and the maritime rights of the disputed islands and reefs;the legality of the China’s activities in the South China Sea.The Chapter four is the summary of the resolutions and the lessons from this dispute.The last chapter is the final conclusion of the thesis.The innovation of this thesis lies in the analysis and demonstration of the arbitration from the standpoint of China and the Philippines.Meanwhile,lots of the previous international maritime cases will be applied to prove the illegality and validity of the arbitration.