By Liz Lagniton | 2026-06-30

A landmark international court ruling against China 10 years later has done little to curb Chinese actions.

A court at The Hague in July 2016 invalidated China's claims to more than 80% of the South China Sea.

But a decade later, Chinese maritime patrols, illegal fishing and artificial-island construction continue in those waters.

The Philippine government's protest in early June over a Chinese floating structure in Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) underscored a decade-old reality: while the ruling reshaped the legal debate over the South China Sea, it did not end confrontations at sea.

The decision, issued under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), found that China's claim to historic rights within its so-called "nine-dash line" lacked "legal basis."

Tensions still fester in the West Philippine Sea, Manila's term for portions of the South China Sea within its maritime jurisdiction.

Continuing disputes

China has continued coast guard and maritime militia operations in disputed waters, expanded artificial-island facilities and strengthened its presence across contested features despite the tribunal's findings.

Beijing has consistently rejected the ruling. Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels continue operating in areas that Manila considers part of its Exclusive Economic Zone, including waters near Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

The latest dispute emerged in June after Philippine authorities reported the presence of a floating structure in Scarborough Shoal, known locally as Bajo de Masinloc, prompting renewed monitoring by the country's maritime agencies. China calls the shoal Huangyan Dao. Chinese workers later removed the structure, Manila said June 17.

The incident echoed one of the central issues addressed in the arbitration case, which affirmed traditional access rights for Filipino and Chinese fishermen at Scarborough Shoal while rejecting China's broader claim to historic rights.

Scarborough Shoal falls under its sovereignty, Beijing insisted throughout the controversy.

The 2016 ruling is "illegal, null and void," Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said in early June, according to the Manila Bulletin.

Island-building legacy

At the same time, the platform reminded Filipinos of another issue that the tribunal raised -- China's large-scale land reclamation and construction in the Spratly Islands.

The 2016 court found that dredging and island-building had severely harmed fragile coral reef ecosystems and violated China's obligations under UNCLOS to protect the marine environment.

A decade later, several of those artificial islands have evolved into heavily developed outposts possessing airstrips, ports, radar systems and other military infrastructure. They raise concerns among neighboring states and security analysts about growing militarization of the South China Sea.

University of the Philippines maritime law scholar Jay Batongbacal described the short-lived Scarborough Shoal structure as part of China's "actions to incrementally change the facts on the ground," according to a June 10 Reuters report. He likened its construction to China's gradual transformation of Mischief Reef into a major artificial-island outpost.

Manila is closely monitoring Scarborough, said Philippine naval spokesperson Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad before China removed the platform.

"From the lens of defense and security, we are doing what we can to perform our mandate, and that includes preventing Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) from being developed into another man-made island," Trinidad said, according to the June 10 Reuters report.

Global backing

While China continues to reject the ruling, international support for the award has steadily risen over the past decade.

Governments including the United States, Japan, Australia and several European countries have cited the decision in support of a rules-based maritime order.

Stratbase Institute President Victor Andres "Dindo" Manhit said the ruling remains central to the Philippines' position in the West Philippine Sea.

"That victory is final and non-negotiable," Manhit said in April, according to Manila Bulletin.

Attention is now shifting toward negotiations on a long-awaited Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China, which supporters hope will reduce tensions in disputed waters.

Despite years of talks, ASEAN and China still have no agreement.

Still, the Philippines has cast its 2026 ASEAN chairmanship under the theme "Navigating our Future, Together," building on previous chair Malaysia's emphasis on regional inclusivity, according to an April 1 commentary by Elina Noor and Jane Chan of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The region could recast the narrative around the dispute, Noor and Chan wrote, noting that the South China Sea "has always connected communities and nations without division or domination."

[Part II of II: 10 Years After the South China Sea Arbitration Ruling]