ABSTRACT
As a major coastal state in the South China Sea, China’s position and legal claim attracts high attentions in this region and in the world. This chapter explores China’s claims and positions over the South China Sea through reading carefully China’s legislations and official documents. It is understood that China bases its territorial claims over the insular features in the South China Sea on acquisition of territorial sovereignty under customary international law, maritime claims in line with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and other rights governed by customary international law. China’s claims remain unchanged but its approach to managing the disputes has evolved. The chapter also explains China’s position of no acceptance and no participation in the South China Sea Arbitration case through the angle of its approach to international law, especially the role of third-party compulsory mechanism in solving international disputes. It then moves on to discuss the legal and political implication of the South China Sea Arbitration on regional legal order and security environment and argues that compulsory dispute settlement mechanism may not be the only or the best option that addresses the disputes in the South China Sea.
