JEAIL > Volume 9(2); 2016 > REGIONAL FOCUS & CONTROVERSIES
Research Paper
Published online: November 30, 2016
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2016.9.2.09

The Sino-Philippine Arbitration on the South China Sea Disputes and the Taiwan Factor

Michael Sheng-ti Gau
National Taiwan Ocean University, No. 1, Peining Road, Keelung City, 20224, Taiwan.
Corresponding Author: mikegau97@msn.com

ⓒ Copyright YIJUN Institute of International Law
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The Sino-Philippine Arbitration on the South China Sea Disputes was over on July 12, 2016, with a Merits Award in Philippine favor. Beijing rejected this arbitration and abstained from submitting written and oral arguments. Taiwan actively engaged in the debate with the Philippines since July 7, 2015. Not deemed as representative of China, Taiwan was considered capable of clarifying the meaning of the U-Shaped Line it first published in 1947 when seated in Nanjing, representing China then. The biggest maritime feature in the Spratly Islands, i.e. Taiping Island (Itu Aba), has been occupied by troops from mainland China since 1946 and then from Taiwan since 1956. The legal status of Taiping Island was the key to success of Philippine Submissions. The factual information from Taiwan became vital. This paper examines Taiwan's role in this arbitration and the degree to which it could actually speak for China at such legal proceedings.

Keywords : South China Sea Arbitration, UNCLOS, Annex VII-Tribunal, Taiping Island, U-Shaped Line, Article 121 of UNCLOS

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