South-east Asian states should understand the region’s strategic realities. They should focus on building relations, and respond with resolve and restraint, after the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the South China Sea.
Today, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) will issue its ruling on the Philippines’ case against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. Many worry about China’s possible response to what is widely expected to be a ruling against its favour, and the implications for the region’s already-choppy strategic waters.

This international legal confrontation comes amid the region’s descent into a maritime insecurity spiral since the April-June 2012 stand-off at Scarborough Shoal between Chinese maritime security forces and the Philippine Navy. That incident ended with Chinese control of the disputed feature and Manila initiating legal arbitration proceedings in The Hague.

The following year, tensions escalated between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands, and China declared an air defence identification zone over parts of the East China Sea in November 2013, triggering fears of a similar move in the South China Sea. In mid-2014, the state-owned China Offshore Oil Corporation placed a giant oil rig close to the Paracel Islands disputed by Vietnam.

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/making-political-hay-after-the-arbitration-ruling