MANILA — The European Union has escalated its criticism of China, accusing Beijing, alongside Moscow, of trying to reshape the global order and revive a spheres-of-influence model, in language that underscores growing Western alignment on security concerns from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. Reuters reported that the EU’s new strategic paper describes China as a “key enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine and flags Beijing’s increasingly assertive behavior in the South China Sea a

The reaffirmation comes as the 10th anniversary of the ruling drew international attention. On 12 July 2026, the Philippines and 13 partner countries issued a joint statement reaffirming the award as “final and binding” and saying there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims. Beijing responded by denouncing that statement and urging the countries to stop “spreading lies” about the arbitration.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and 13 other countries have called on China to abide by the 2016 arbitral award on the West Philippine Sea, reaffirming that the ruling is “final, legally binding, and definitive” between the Philippines and China on the maritime claims covered by the tribunal.

On 12 July 2016, an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) issued a landmark award in The Republic of the Philippines v. The People’s Republic of China. The tribunal held that China’s claims to historic rights within the “nine-dash line” had no lawful effect beyond entitlements available under UNCLOS, and it found multiple Chinese actions unlawful vis-à-vis the Philippines’ rights in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The 12 July 2016 Award rendered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague determined that China’s claims of historic rights within the South China Sea, as represented by its so-called nine-dash line, have no legal basis under international law.