Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

China has reiterated its position that it will not accept nor participate in the disputed South China Sea arbitration case. An increasing number of legal experts have criticized what they call the biased nature of the case. Li Jiejun visited the International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement in Hong Kong for the story.

The award of the South China Sea arbitration on July 12 attracted much attention from international law scholars.

Many voiced suspicion over the result.

The arbitral tribunal in the Hague ruled in favor of nearly all the 15 claims by the Philippines.

But experts say the ruling is greatly biased.

They said the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the South China Sea case, which in essence, is related to territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation.

An expert says the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, is the principal agreement in terms of the modern international order of the oceans. But it cannot take the place of general international law.

"The modern regime of the law of the sea consists of not only the UNCLOS, but also rules of general international law, which are complementary to each other. It is wrong to over-stress the importance of the UNCLOS, while negotiating rights such as historic ones in general international law, as some people do," said Li Shishi, President of Chinese Society of Int'l Law.

The almost 500-page award disregarded historical facts and general international law. The five-member tribunal also denied China's long-standing historic rights in the South China Sea. Experts believe the artitration should not expand its power to examine the historic rights claim.

“The historic rights claim does not fall within the UNCLOS. It should be examined according to the international customary law. The convention is not the only legal document to settle the maritime disputes. It cannot be used to deny China’s historic rights in the South China Sea,” said Wu Shicun, President of National Institute of South China Sea Studies.

The ruling said Taiping island was a rock, instead of an island. This means the island does not have the rights to exclusive economic zones. Analysts say this ruling is ridiculous.

“What is island, and what is rock or reef? The international courts used to be very careful when they made judgment. But the arbitral tribunal made the award without factual basis. If Taiping Island is not an island, then a lot of islands in the world cannot be categorized as such anymore,” said Dr. Xu Hong, director-general of Dept. of Treaty & Law, Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Observers say the award from the arbitral tribunal would not resolve any issues in the region, but may lead to instability, as instigated by the United States and other Western countries. They said China and the Philippines should be back to bilateral negotiation.

Many law experts believe the award of arbitration went beyond the court’s jurisdiction, so its decision has no legal effect. China has every reason to reject the verdict. Beijing also said its territorial sovereignty and maritime interests in the South China Sea would not be affected by the award under any circumstances.