After a major diplomatic set-back, a look back at how China got to this point.

The ruling by the tribunal in the Philippines vs. China arbitration case is no doubt a major setback to Chinese diplomacy. No matter how people evaluate the quality and impartiality of the ruling, especially concerning it is overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippine claims, it will not only damage China’s image and soft power, but will greatly inhibit China’s claims to territory and maritime rights in the South China Sea, and the consequences will be far reaching. Looking back the process since January 2013, when the Philippine government decided to appeal to the arbitral tribunal, there are multiple lessons that China can learn from this arbitration case, especially when it comes to decision making, policy research, attitudes and perception, and communication.

Foreign Policy Decision Making

The arbitration case demonstrated there is a major problem with China’s foreign policy decision making process. If China had participated in the arbitration, it could have selected an arbitrator on behalf of China and influenced the selections of other arbitrators, which would have made it feasible to also have a direct impact to the possible result. It’s even possible that China could have successfully made the case that the tribunal lacked of jurisdiction over the matter, or limited the jurisdiction to fewer issues. Because of its non-participation, China also willingly lost the opportunity to directly participate in the debates and give its own opinion, evidence, and arguments regarding the case. So it was clearly a huge mistake for China to forgo participation.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/07/what-china-can-learn-from-the-south-china-sea-case/