Floodgates opening: China dealt fresh blow in South China Sea disputes as Hague court to look into half of Philippines' claims against country
Further challenges to Chinese ambitions likely after court of arbitration rules it has jurisdiction over Manila's submissions in territorial dispute
A decision by a court in The Hague to take immediate jurisdiction over seven out of 15 submissions by the Philippines against China regarding territorial disputes may encourage others to challenge Beijing's South China Sea claims.
The decision came as China's navy chief warned his US counterpart encounters between their forces could spiral into conflict, state media reported, two days after a US destroyer sailed close to Beijing's artificial South China Sea islands.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled on Thursday that it had jurisdiction over 15 submissions by Manila, including one that calls into question the validity of China's claims based on the nine-dash line under international maritime law as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which China has ratified.
Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which about a third of all the world's traded oil passes. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei have overlapping claims.
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Analysts said the tribunal's decision had already put China at a disadvantage, as it might encourage the other claimants.