The Ruling for the West Philippine Sea

The West Philippine Sea is a small portion of the South China Sea that is located at the western seaboard of the Philippines. It is where the Spratly Island Group can be found. This group of islands is a good source of indigenous gas, a wide array of seabedminerals and marine life.

There has been a long-standing dispute between the Philippines and China on the territorial rights over the West Philippine Sea.There has been no concrete distinction as to which country really has sovereignty on the sought-after maritime area until July 12, 2016 when an international arbitral tribunal named the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled in favor of the Philippines in its case against China over the West Philippine Sea. 

According to the ruling, there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the “9-dash line.” China has violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone, and China's large-scale land reclamation has caused severe harm to the environment, among others.

China, especially its government, is disappointed with the ruling. Xi Jinping, the President of China, said that China’s territorial sovereignty and marine rights in the seas will not be affected by the ruling. However, he said that his nation is still open to settle territorial disputes with neighboring countries.

Getting territorial rights over the maritime area is important for China because if that happens, the country would be able todominate a major oil source and would have the power to control sea-related activities in East and Southeast Asian countries. This would include having a certain degree of control over foreign military forces like that of the United States.

Other countries affected by the ruling also had different reactions. Vietnam, another claimant of territorial rights over the South China Sea, hopes the two countries involved would settle the issue peacefully. The United States of America did not give specific comments about the arbitration, but it hopes that China and the Philippines would both respect the ruling given by the international tribunal.

The Philippines considers the arbitration a significant development in the case of the Philippines against China. Government leaders say that the ruling is still not conclusive of the West Philippine Sea’s fate especially because China refuses to acknowledge it. However, they added that the Philippines is likewise open to have bilateral talks about the issue with China.