Hague Ruling Presents Vietnam with Opportunities and Dilemmas

Jul 18, 2016 | Le Hong Hiep
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The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling on the Philippines’ case against China is a historic milestone in the evolution of the South China Sea dispute. Vietnam stands to benefit significantly from the award, but also faces some negative implications for its claims in the Spratlys.

Two points in the tribunal’s ruling are of particular significance to Vietnam. First, the tribunal dismissed China’s claim to “historic rights” based on the nine-dash line as incompatible with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). Second, it found that none of the features in the Spratlys met the criteria of an island under Article 121 (3) of the Unclos. As such, these features are only entitled to a territorial water of 12 nautical miles at most, not an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that may stretch up to 200 nautical miles. These rulings significantly narrow down the scope of the maritime dispute between China and Vietnam. There is now no overlapping zone between China’s nine-dash line and Vietnam’s EEZ, as well as between the hypothetical EEZ of certain features in the Spratlys and Vietnam’s EEZ measured from its mainland. The tribunal’s ruling also sets an important legal precedent for Vietnam to handle its dispute with China over the waters surrounding the Paracels.