On 14 July 2016, two days after the Arbitral Tribunal established under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Philippines v. China case rendered its Final Award, CIL held a Fireside Chat session to examine the decision. Hosted by Professor S Jayakumar and Professor Tommy Koh, the 17th session of the CIL Fireside Chat Series, which featured three panelists Professor Robert Beckman, Professor Wang Jiangyu and Dr Hao Duy Phan, reviewed major aspects of the Final Award, including China’s claims to “historic rights”, the status and entitlement of the geographic features and China’s activities in the South China Sea. The Fireside Chat also discussed the reactions of the concerned parties to the Award, the issues of enforcement, the significance of the Award, and its implications for the management of conflicts and resolution of the underlying disputes in the South China Sea. The event was attended by about 190 diplomats, policymakers, academics and students. For more information on the event, please click here.
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