The tribunal handling the South China Sea arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine government issued its final award on Tuesday, amid a global chorus that as the panel has no jurisdiction, its decision is naturally null and void.

A source with the Philippine Foreign Ministry told Xinhua that the ministry has received the award.

China need not care about the arbitration ruling, which is not legally valid as arbitration requires all parties to agree to refer the case to arbitration and adhere to the decision. Since China, a party to the dispute, refused to refer the case to arbitration, the entire arbitration is invalid and ridiculous. The ruling is essentially a joke, Zhao Yongsheng, a Paris-based economist and vice-president of the China-France Association of Lawyers and Economists told the Global Times.


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