ABSTRACT
The Tribunal's Arctic Sunrise decision is significant implications for China, where China has so far refused to participate in an United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) challenge brought by the Philippines over maritime claims in the South China Sea. This chapter offers an analysis of arguments and reasoning in the Arctic Sunrise case. The Arctic Sunrise case involves the relationship of the jurisdiction between the coastal state, the flag state, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a sui generis zone where the rights of the coastal state and the third states have to be harmonized. This concerns the legality of the acts initiated by the Russian Federation. It draws attention to a parallel between Russian's behavior in the Arctic Sunrise case and the Chinese attitude in the arbitration initiated by the Philippines. It probes into China's potential strategy towards the arbitration initiated by the Philippines.
