Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. this week said a 2016 decision by a United Nations tribunal rejects China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea is nonnegotiable. The Department of Foreign Affairs issued the statement on the fourth anniversary of the decision favoring the Philippines in the arbitration case filed by the government of then President Benigno S.C. Aquino III against China. The tribunal ruled that China’s claim of historic rights to resources within the sea falling within the ‘nine-dash line’ was illegal.

Tadalan, C. M., & Cortez, G. M. (2020, July 15). 7 of 10 Filipinos want Duterte gov't to assert right at sea. BusinessWorld, p. S1/9.