Preparing for the main event

Amid the manoeuvring and megaphone diplomacy that has surrounded the stand-off between China and the Philippines over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a potential legal time-bomb remains for China - even if the dispute eases.

At the height of the tensions, Beijing predictably rejected Manila's overtures to take the dispute over the shoal - known in Chinese as Huangyan Island or as Panatag Shoal to the Philippines - to the International Court of Justice, sticking to its long-held insistence that the matter should be resolved through diplomacy and bilateral negotiations.

On the surface, this has seemed to stymie the Philippines' move. The court requires the mutual agreement of both parties before a case of disputed sovereignty can be brought before it, so China's objections effectively killed such a gambit.

Tensions eased further this week when both pulled ships back from the shoal, but the wider sovereignty dispute remains - along with questions over how the Philippines will keep its legal case alive. Backed by international legal consultants, Manila officials are quietly exploring other legal avenues under which they can possibly force China to arbitration or a tribunal, even against its will.

"Do we have to have China with us as we go to ... settlement mechanisms," asked Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario amid the stand-off, which ran for more than two months. "The answer is no."

Such remarks have sparked a flurry of interest in regional staterooms and universities in recent weeks, raising some intriguing questions. Is such action really possible? And what would be the impact?