BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The real nature of a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is about territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, a German expert has said.
Stefan Talmon, director of the Institute of Public International Law at the University of Bonn, said in a paper published recently that despite the Philippines' claims about issues such as "traditional fishing rights," the "actual controversy" in the case is about territorial sovereignty.
 |
| What the Philippines has actually asked the court to decide (Click Image to Enlarge) |
The Hague-based Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea established at the unilateral request of the Philippines has no jurisdiction over the case, as disputes over territorial sovereignty are not governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Talmon said.
The arbitral tribunal will issue a final award on July 12. China has repeatedly said that it will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration.
Read the full story at Xinhua