· In 2016, an independent arbitral tribunal of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruled that over 90% of Chinese claims of the South China Sea area are illegitimate.
· It said China is intruding into sovereign waters of Philippines – through the claimed 9-dash line – as per UNCLOS rules.
· However, China has rejected the ruling and is continuing to occupy the South China sea waters as well as building artificial islands
