Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

A maritime international tribunal at The Hague announced Wednesday that it will issue its award on July 12 over the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China over the South China Sea dispute. The progress of the case has been in the spotlight of international attention since the Philippines filed the arbitration in 2013.

The award of the arbitration will bring in a new height in public debates about the South China Sea dispute. As the announcement of the result approaches, international public discourse has been rife with comments and discussions about the repercussions of the award. Some argue that it will be a prelude to a drastic change of the regional situation, but some believe the award won't make too many ripples.

As for China, some argue that by flouting the award, China will undergo the collapse of its hard-earned international reputation. In their mind, China has only two options: One is being the butt of global jokes for sticking with an appeal already denied by an international organization; the other is breaking away from the current international order and embarking on a dangerous path, which is what the US wants.

China's diplomacy in the first half of 2016 with neighboring countries and African nations is deemed by international media as crisis PR. Several countries have publicly shown their support to China's stand on the South China Sea dispute, and echoed China's calls for peaceful bilateral negotiations to deal with the dispute. Their support has evoked the interest of many international media outlets.

After the Philippines' presidential election, newly-elected president Rodrigo Duterte elaborated on his thought about the arbitration on some public occasions, which is quite different from the strong position held by the Benigno Aquino administration. His remarks have soothed the tensions between China and the Philippines.

The slight change has been dramatized by the Western media, which claim that China is releasing a goodwill signal back to Duterte as Chinese tourists to the Philippines have seen an obvious rebound. However, the rebound didn't happen after the election in May, but four months before. In January when the Philippines was mulling to open its military bases to US troops, China had no reason to send a goodwill signal to the Philippines by encouraging tourists to travel to a provocative country. However, the influx of Chinese tourists to the Philippines at a politically inappropriate moment can at least demonstrate one thing: China has never harbored any ill will toward the Philippines.

Before and after the announcement of the result of the arbitration, media outlets will try everything they can to draw global attention. Their reports, especially headlines, will be more attention-grabbing than substantially objective. For example, the recent visit by China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi to Vietnam was inferred by Reuters to be a "public relations blitz."

Some analysts claim that Vietnam does not trust China and there is no room for compromise between the two in the South China Sea issue. Others believe China is trying every means to minimize risks caused by the arbitration. No matter how many speculations these media can conjure up, no one can actually provide solid proof.

The Western media, after years of suggestive reporting, have developed a method to influence the public: As long as their reporting is logical, most readers will not care about the source of their stories, or whether they are wrongly narrated and misleading. When the US is proclaiming the significance of the "freedom of navigation," there are few people trying to sort out the range of application of the right. As for Yang's visit to Vietnam, biased reports by Western media have also mixed right with wrong.

Although Vietnam's political figures still mention the common interests of China and Vietnam in public occasions, their stance in the bilateral territorial disputes has become a test stone for their political spectrum. The Vietnamese authorities used to employ a British law firm to work on how the country can bring the dispute to international court. The Chinese leadership must have already calculated the pros and cons of such development. Some media's quick accusations about China's "PR blitz" only end up amusing.

The author is vice dean of the School of International Studies, Jinan University and a research fellow at the Collaborative Innovation Center for South China Sea Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn