Thread by @indiohistorian

#TodayinHistory in 2016, after taking China to court, the Philippines won its case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, when PCA declared China's #9dashline illegal and invalid. It was a historic victory not only for #PH but for all of the world's coastal states. THREAD.

The @PCA_CPA is the world's oldest intergovernmental org (1899) based in The Hague, Netherlands, tasked to settle disputes bet states. When @UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was entered into by 119 states (incl #PH & China) in 1982, it entitled archipelagic states their own...

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), wherein the coastal state has sole exploitation rights over natural resources 370 km from its baseline to the sea. Since the UNCLOS went into force in 1994, 167 states have signed this Charter of the Sea.

#PH had 17 yrs of bilateral negotiation w/ China but China never budged, claiming historic rights on much of South China Sea. China began pushing its 9-dash line claim in 1992, encompassing 3.5M sq km of South China Sea w/c overlaps w/ EEZs of many Southeast Asian coastal states.

On 5 Sept 2012, via Administrative Order No. 29 issued by the PNoy administration, #PH renamed its EEZ in the South China Sea as "#WestPHSea," citing the 1982 UNCLOS, further bolstering PH's claim.

On 22 Jan 2013, #PH finally filed its case vs China to @PCA_CPA, the 1st time that a legit case vs. 9-dash line was raised. Meanwhile, on 19 Feb 2013, China declared it would not participate in the arbitration. On 30 March 2014, PH submitted a 4k-page memorial (w/ 40 maps) to PCA

... “repackaging” the PH legal case in such a way that the center of the argument is maritime delimitation & entitlement. This was lauded as a "stroke of genius" bec PCA has no mandate to tackle issues of sovereignty. The Tribunal convened from 7 to 13 July 2015.

In Oct 2015, it certified that it has jurisdiction over the case. It heard the merits from the PH delegation (composed of delegates from the 3 branches of gov), from 24 to 30 Nov 2015, even w/out China's delegation as per the PCA rules.

#OnThisDay in 2016, at 5:00 pm local time, in a historic victory for #PH, @PCA_CPA announced its verdict that:
1. The Nine-dash line claim of China is illegal & invalid, its "historic rights" argument contrary to UNCLOS itself;
2. #PH entitlements do not overlap w/ that of China;

3. China violated #PH's sovereign rights on PH's EEZ, interfering w/ Filipino fishing & oil exploration;
4. China caused harm to the environment by building artificial islands in disputed areas.

6 yrs have passed, & many states have already cited & supported PH's victory.

Photos:
- PCA hearings, 7-13 July 2015, Communiqué de Presse, 13 July 2015, @PCA_CPA
- Peace Palace, undated, @CarnegieFdn
- Velarde-Bagay Map (1734), one of 40 maps in the PH Memorial, 30 March 2014
- PH delegation to the Arbitral Tribunal, July 2015

For @subselfie
@jmnualla
@tonitiemsin