The Arbitral Tribunal Award on the

Case of the Philippines -v- China:

An Australian Perspective
Emeritus Professor Carlyle A. Thayer
Presentation to Six Years After Arbitral Tribunal Award:
Developments in the South China (West Philippine) Sea
9th Virtual International Conference on South China (West Philippine) Sea
hosted by the
National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea (NYMWPS)
Manila, July 16, 2022
 Outline of Presentation
1. Arbitral Award 2016
2. Arbitral Award 2016 –– Australia’s Response
3. 5th Anniversary of Arbitral Award
4. Australia’s Submission to the UN Commission on the Limits
of the Continental Shelf
5. China’s 14 Grievances Against Australia
6. Australian Labor Government and the South China Sea
 1. Arbitral Award 2016
Australian Professor Clive Schofield
Regime of Islands
Expert Independent Witness
• The Tribunal’s ruling also represents the
first time that an international Court or
Tribunal has squarely addressed the
Regime of Islands under the Convention.
The Tribunal’s effort to clarify the status of
insular features and their capacity to
generate broad maritime claims means
that its award is hugely significant for the
development of the law of the sea and
international law generally.
2. Arbitral Award 2016 – Australia’s Response
• The Australian Government calls on the Philippines and
China to abide by the ruling, which is final and binding on
both parties…
• The Tribunal’s decision was not about sovereignty, but about
maritime rights under UNCLOS…
• Australia supports the right of all countries to seek to resolve
disputes peacefully in accordance with international law,
including UNCLOS
• Statement the the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, July
12, 2016
 3. Fifth Anniversary of the Arbitral Award
July 12, 2021
• The Australian Government has consistently called on the
parties to the arbitration to abide by the Tribunal’s decision,
which is final and binding on both China and the Philippines.
• Adherence to international law is fundamental to the
continuing peace, prosperity and stability of our region. It
allows all states – big and small – to resolve disputes
peacefully.
• Australia will continue to support the right of all countries to
seek to resolve disputes peacefully and in accordance with
international law, including UNCLOS.
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, July 12, 2021
 4. Australia’s Submission to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations (July 23, 2020)

• The Australian Government rejects any claims by China that

are inconsistent with [UNCLOS], in particular maritime claims
that do not adhere to its rules on baselines, maritime zones
and classification of features.

• Australia rejects China’s claim to ‘historic rights’ or ‘maritime

rights and interests’ as established in the ‘long course of
historical practice’ in the South China Sea.
Australia’s Submission to the UN Commission
on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
• There is no legal basis for China to draw straight baselines
connecting the outermost points or maritime features of
‘island groups’ in the South China Sea, including the ‘Four
Sha’…

• Australia rejects any claims to internal waters, territorial sea,

exclusive economic zone and continental shelf based on such
baselines.
Australia’s Submission to the UN Commission
on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

• Australia also objects to China’s claims to maritime zones

generated by submerged features, or low tide elevations in a
manner inconsistent with UNCLOS…

• The Australian Government does not accept that artificially

transformed features can ever acquire the status of an island
under Article 121(1) of UNCLOS.
Australia’s Submission to the UN Commission
on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

• The Australian Government does not accept China’s

assertion… that its sovereignty claims over the Paracel
Islands and the Spratly islands are ‘widely recognized
by the international community’ (noting the protests
by Vietnam… and the Philippines)
 5. China’s 14 Grievances Against Australia
November 17, 2020

• Grievance No. 7:
• [Australia was the] First non littoral country to
make a statement on the South China Sea to the
United Nations
 6. Australian Labor Government
and the South China Sea (May 23, 2022)
• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has given four major foreign
policy speeches but South China Sea not mentioned:
• Statement to the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Plenary
Session on Strengthening Multilateralism, July 8
• Special lecture to the International Institute for Strategic
Studies: A shared future: Australia, ASEAN and Southeast
Asia, July 6
• Keynote address in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 29
• Speech to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, May 26
 Australian Labor Government
and the South China Sea (May 23, 2022)

• The question is about the South China Sea… the first

point I’d make is that international law… the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea, these principles
matter. They matter not only to claimant states but
they matter to all states in the region.
• Minister for Foreign Affairs, Doorstop interview - Kota
Kinabalu, Malaysia, June 30
PLA Air Force
conducts
dangerous air
intercept of
RAAF Poseidon
P-8A over South
China Sea and
PLAN warship
lasers RAAF P-
8A over Arafura
Sea
 The Arbitral Tribunal Award on the
Case of the Philippines -v- China:
An Australian Perspective
Emeritus Professor Carlyle A. Thayer
Presentation to Six Years After Arbitral Tribunal Award:
Developments in the South China (West Philippine) Sea
9th Virtual International Conference on South China (West Philippine) Sea
hosted by the
National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea (NYMWPS)
Manila, July 16, 2022