The South China Sea Arbitration: The Clinical Isolation and/or One-Sided Tendencies in the Philippines’ Oral Arguments

Abstract

This brief paper comments on the clinical isolation and one-sided tendencies in the Philippines’ oral arguments in the South China Sea arbitration, with illustrations from its arguments on (1) negotiation as the agreed exclusive choice for dispute settlement, (2) sovereignty matters, (3) optional exception of delimitation-related disputes; (4) optional exception of military activities disputes; and (5) environmental claims.

Keywords: South China Sea arbitration; optional exceptions under article 298; territorial overeignty and jurisdiction under UNCLOS; Article 281