On July 12, 2016, a tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines in a South China Sea case unilaterally initiated against China. China's position from the start has been: the ruling is illegal, invalid, and has no binding force. Dr. Wang Hanling, a leading Chinese expert on the law of the sea, says the arbitration distorted the true nature of the dispute-deliberately sidestepping sovereignty issues and disregarding existing bilateral agreements. From the outset, he argues, it was never a neutral legal process, but a geopolitical maneuver disguised as international law.
Source: CGTN
