Reuters is carrying a story today that the Philippines is prepared to negotiate with China over the South China Sea. Why not? They have already won the day in court, something China has chosen to ignore. We should remember that they not only won, they won big. The Tribunal ruled that China not only did not have a legitimate claim to the territories they invaded, they were interfering with the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines - a potentially more powerful finding than the territorial claims. (An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources).
China splits the Philippines off from the rest of the world and negotiates with them separately. This is after telling the Philippine President what to say about the Tribunal's findings. For a strongman, he seems like a pretty thoughtful person, playing off the superpowers the way people like him have always done.
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