An international arbitration tribunal has ruled that it has jurisdiction to consider issues in dispute between the Philippines and China regarding territorial claims in the South China Sea. The decision is a defeat for Beijing, which has insisted that it will not submit to international adjudication of its claims and, alternatively, that the issues in question cannot be considered by the tribunal. This is no time to celebrate, however: the decision is preliminary, addressing procedural issues, and does not deal with the substance of the matter. More significantly, Beijing could reject the tribunal’s findings. That would be a mistake, but that does not seem to much trouble Chinese leaders these days.
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