I’m sorry, but that is plain wrong. China grandfathered in its SCS claims upon ratification of UNCLOS, and opted out of arbitration as per UNCLOS’ own rules, which puts China’s SCS claims firmly outside the bounds of UNCLOS and the jurisdiction of the court of arbitration.
That is a matter of fact, and is not up for interpretation or discussion. By even hearing the case, never mind making any sort of judgment, the court of arbitration proved itself as a political tool and a kangaroo court.
It’s no coincidence that the ICJ issued a public declaration firmly distancing itself from the court of arbitration with almost indecent haste as soon as the western MSM tried to conflate the two to lend the court of arbitration status and legitimacy it plainly lacked.
The silence from the legal community regarding the ruling is absolutely deafening. It is telling that the entire western MSM could not find even one legal expert of repute or note to come forward and defend the court of arbitration decision because it is utterly indefensible from a purely legal prospective.
Yes, exactly, which is why I deliberately didn't concentrate on the rights and wrongs. But on the point of law itself.
Now, I considered members here are all educated people with high degree of comprehension and analytical skills.
We can read and learned better than your average Joe! So when the MSM tries to confused their populace by trying to muddle the ICJ and court of arbitration to give the "judgement in favour of Philippines" more weight. I can understand the average Joe would fall for that.
Now this is the sad part, when someone from this forum who live right at the door step of the SCS area openly suggest the "judgement" was part of the ICJ judgement, then this illustrate how effective the MSM have been, and that even well-educated people falls pray to the MSM agenda! What chance for the average Joe?