c, 165, 166. ‘The South China Sea Arbitration Award of 12 July 2016 Ti STATUS AND EFFECT OF THE TRIBUNAL’S AWARD ON JURISDICTION The Tribunal’s Award on Jurisdiction is an “award of the arbitral tribunal” for the purposes of Article 10 of Annex VI to the Convention.""* Pursuant to Article 11 of Annex VII to the Convention, “{tJhe award shall be final and without appeal, unless the parties to the dispute have agreed in advance to an appellate procedure. It shall be complied with by the parties to the dispute"? The Tribunal is conscious that China has not, to date, accepted the decisions in the Tribunal’s Award on Jurisdiction and has stated that the Award “is null and void, and has no binding effect on China.” ‘The Tribunal is also conscious that China has continued to assert publicly that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction for the same reasons set out in China’s Position Paper of 7 December 2014, specifically that: (a) “First, the essence of the subject-matter of the arbitration is territorial sovereignty over several maritime features in the South China Sea, which is beyond the scope of the UNCLOS.”"! (b) “Second, even assuming some of the claims were concerned with the interpretation and application of the UNCLOS, they would still be an integral part of maritime delimitation, which has been excluded by China through its 2006 Declaration and consequently is not subject to compulsory arbitration,” (©) “Third, given that China and the Philippines have agreed to settle their disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation, the Philippines is precluded from initiating arbitration unilaterally. Convention, Annex VII, art. 10. Convention, Annex VIL, art, 11 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China on the Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility of the South China Sea Arbitration by the Arbitral Tribunal Established at the Request of the Republic of the Philippines (30 October 2015) (Annex 649). Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People's Republic of China, Briefing by Xu Hong, Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law on the South China Sea Arbitration Initiated by the Philippines (12 May 2016), available at Ministry of Forcign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, Briefing by Xu Hong, Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law on the South China Sea Arbitration Initiated by the Philippines (12 May 2016), available at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, Briefing by Xu Hong, Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law on the South China Sea Arbitration Initiated by the Philippines (12 May 2016), available at 8 See Award on Jurisdiction, paras. 152-154. 77 See Award on Jurisdiction, paras. 155-157. ® See Award on Jurisdiction, paras. 212-229, 299-300, % See Award on Jurisdiction, paras. 332-352. © See Award on Jurisdiction, paras. 124-129, 65