Expert: So-called 'South China Sea arbitration award' is illegal, invalid, and doomed to fail | International Observer

July 12, 2026, marks the 10th anniversary of the so-called "South China Sea arbitration award." A decade ago, at the unilateral request of the Philippines, a temporarily constituted "arbitral tribunal" issued an award on the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines, which was unequivocally rejected by China as "illegal and invalid." 

In an interview with China News Network, Chen Xiangmiao,  director of the Center for Global Naval Studies at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in China, pointed out that the "award" was deeply flawed, from its claim of jurisdiction to its factual basis. He said it not only seriously violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea but also contravenes the consensus between China and the Philippines to resolve disputes through negotiations. Chen emphasized that the so-called "award" has never produced any legal effect, and that China's position of "non-acceptance and non-recognition" is fully grounded in international law. (By Zhang Aolin)