Earlier this month, a long-awaited decision by an international tribunal in The Hague ruled unanimously that there is no legal basis for Beijing’s “nine-dash line,” claiming sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea by ignoring the exclusive economic zones of neighboring nations (including the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore) confirmed under the 1996 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The judges ruled that any historic rights China might have had were extinguished by the 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) zones established under the U.N. treaty. By ratifying the agreement, the party-state in Beijing accepted the jurisdiction of the court. Its attempt to back out of its commitment to binding dispute settlements a decade later is thus null and void in international law.

Beijing nonetheless continues to assert ownership of up to 90 percent of the sea based on ancient maps. At the heart of the disputes is a series of barren islands in two groups, including the Spratly Islands off the coast of the Philippines. The court held that the Spratly Islands, claimed by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, are “mere rocks” or “low tide elevations without territorial status,” which cannot sustain human life and accordingly are not economic zones under the Law of the Sea.

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