Decade-long farce of 'South China Sea arbitration': Who's fueling regional tensions?

Editor's Note: Ten years after the so-called "South China Sea Arbitration Award" case, CGTN presents a special series examining China's position on the South China Sea from four perspectives. Drawing on historical evidence and insights from Chinese and international experts, the series seeks to highlight that, rather than resolving disputes, the so-called arbitration has become a poisoned legacy – fueling confrontation, distorting the application of international law, and undermining peace and stability in the region.

Ten years after the so-called South China Sea arbitration award was issued in 2016, the Philippines, together with certain Western countries, continues to politicize and recycle the deeply flawed decision, seeking to make an issue of the "award," which China regards as nothing but a worthless piece of paper.

Recently, 14 countries, including the US, Japan and the Philippines, have issued a so-called joint statement, stating that China's "expansive maritime claims" in the South China Sea have "no legal basis" and emphasizing that "the 2016 ruling is legally binding."

Meanwhile, since mid-June, the major Philippine media outlets have intensified their promotion of the illegal "award," and the Philippines' politicians – including its defense secretary – have lashed out at China for refusing to accept or recognize it.

"For the past 10 years, the 'award' has not only failed to resolve the maritime issues between China and the Philippines, but instead has become a tool for the Philippines to expand its territorial and maritime claims, exacerbate tensions in the region and provide a pretext for external forces to intervene and destabilize the South China Sea," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The continued playing up of the illegal "award" by certain countries is inconsistent with the trend of peace and stability in the region, and goes against the aspirations of countries and people in the region for development and prosperity, said the ministry. "Such attempts are doomed to fail."

From the very beginning, China has maintained a consistent and clear stance – it neither accepts nor recognizes the "award," declaring it null and void and without any binding force. 

Stirring up trouble

Since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, the Philippines has noticeably accelerated its efforts to entrench the illegal "award" through domestic legislation.

In November 2024, the Philippines enacted the Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act. Notably, the Maritime Zones Act illegally incorporates China's Huangyan Dao and most islands, reefs and relevant waters of China's Nansha Qundao into the Philippines' maritime zones, in an attempt to cement the "award" through domestic law.

In March 2026, the country also unilaterally renamed 131 geographical features within the so-called "Kalayaan Island Group" in China's Nansha Qundao with Philippine names.

In recent years, the Philippines has stepped up its provocations within the waters and airspace adjacent to China's maritime features, triggering frequent maritime confrontations.

At Ren'ai Jiao in Nansha Qundao, Manila has repeatedly attempted to send building materials to reinforce the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusty warship it deliberately ran aground in 1999. During a resupply mission in June 2024, Philippine personnel went as far as carrying firearms, severely escalating tensions.

At Huangyan Dao in Zhongsha Qundao, Philippine vessels have repeatedly intruded into adjacent waters without China's authorization, compelling the Chinese side to take measures to uphold its rights.

At Tiexian Jiao and other uninhabited islands and reefs in Nansha Qundao, Philippine personnel illegally landed on the features 30 times, involving a total of 211 visits between January and June 2025 alone, according to incomplete statistics. However, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) stipulates that no party shall alter the status quo of uninhabited islands, reefs, and other features that are unoccupied and without facilities.

"Over the past decade, one of the Philippine government's main objectives has been to continuously reinforce the illegal 'award' in an attempt to solidify its unlawful territorial claims and unilateral maritime claims in the South China Sea," said Ding Duo, director of the Research Center for International and Regional Issues at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

He said some forces within the Philippines have turned hyping up and entrenching the "award" into a political business, stoking nationalist sentiment at home while diverting attention from the Marcos administration's challenges in economic management and public welfare governance.

Wooing external forces

Moreover, the so-called arbitration has handed external powers, particularly the United States and Japan, a convenient pretext to interfere in regional affairs.

Military cooperation between the US and the Philippines has accelerated across the board. In 2023, the Philippines granted the US military access to four additional bases, bringing the total to nine. In 2024, the US announced a $500-million military aid package for the Philippines, claiming it would help Manila respond to the China Coast Guard.

The two countries have also continued to upgrade their annual joint exercises. The US military has so far deployed offensive weapons systems in the Philippines, including the Typhon mid-range missile system and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines has also continued to deepen, with the two countries gradually forming what some describe as a "quasi-military alliance." Their cooperation has expanded from intelligence sharing, defense equipment transfers and joint exercises to the announcement of so-called negotiations on the delimitation of their exclusive economic zones and continental shelf.

Meanwhile, the three countries have joined forces to hype up the "South China Sea issue." The grouping has shown signs of further expansion. In February this year, the US, Japan, the Philippines and Australia conducted so-called joint maritime and air patrols near Huangyan Dao. In recent years, naval and air forces from US allies, including Australia, Canada and France, have also increasingly operated in the South China Sea.

"By relying on US support and bringing more extra-regional countries into the Philippines for joint military exercises and rotational deployments, the Philippines has turned itself into a 'powder keg' in the Asia-Pacific," said Yang Xiao, a research professor at the Institute of Peaceful Development under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China a steadfast force

Against persistent provocations, China has remained steadfast in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

As the largest coastal state in the South China Sea, China has continued to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with ASEAN countries across political, economic and people-to-people exchanges, serving as a steadfast force for maintaining peace and stability, as well as promoting cooperation and development in the South China Sea.

In response to the Philippines' continued provocations under the pretext of the so-called arbitration award, China has issued a series of official documents systematically outlining the historical basis and legal rationale for sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea, clearly explaining its indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters, while effectively refuting false claims and unlawful assertions.

The country has also continued to carry out regular law enforcement patrols, maritime administration, island and reef development, and ecological conservation in the South China Sea. By releasing a series of ecological survey reports on Ren'ai Jiao, Xianbin Jiao and Huangyan Dao, China uses scientific data to show that the Philippines is the real culprit behind ecological damage in the South China Sea, while demonstrating through concrete actions China's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the islands, reefs and adjacent waters in the region.

Ding said China's rights protection efforts in the South China Sea over the past 10 years clearly demonstrate the long-term stability, continuity and consistency of its South China Sea policy.

"China's claims to its rights have not changed, nor has its position on managing maritime differences and disputes," he said.