The expanding Chinese presence in the South China Sea: the case of the Spratly Islands dispute.

Abstract

The topic analyzed in this thesis is regarded by the international community as being one of the most intriguing and challenging case concerning international law, that is the “Spratly Islands” (also known as南沙群岛 Nánshā Qúndǎo in Chinese and Kapuluan ng Kalayaan in Tagalog ) dispute between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines (ROP), two of the most important players in the South China Sea (SCS) region. This controversy is undoubtedly linked to the complex geopolitical situation that characterizes the SCS, where many countries are involved in several disputes with China, mainly regarding the mostly inhabited small islands, atolls, coral reefs and shoals that make up what are globally known as Spratly Islands. The main controversy, which will be discussed in details in the following dissertation, between the PRC and the Philippines, has led the Government in Manila to take legal actions and address the dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) located in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2013, a Tribunal was constituted under Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) , which eventually issued a unanimous Arbitration Award on July, 12 2016, ruling in favor of the Filipino government.