Dawn And Dusk Of 9 Dash Lines

On June 12, 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China could no longer claim the "nine dash line" on historical or legal grounds to demarcate its portion in the South China Sea.¹ Interestingly, China had previously made a declaration in 2006 to exclude maritime boundary delimitation from the purview of compulsory dispute settlement². However, the Philippines made sure to navigate their contentions around this in such a manner that the Tribunal adjudicated mainly on the rights and obligations, entitlement, lawfulness (action) of the dispute between the parties³. While China continued to refrain from participating in the arbitration proceedings and issued several statements to this effect, the Tribunal assumed jurisdiction and went on to pass an order binding on both parties.⁴