July 12, 2016

"The final ruling of an international tribunal on territorial disputes between China and the Philippines, which favored the latter, may encourage other claimants to consider international arbitration or at least seek greater interference in the South China Sea from outside powers, observers warned on Tuesday.

However, because of each claimant country's unique political and economical interests, coupled with the need to strike a delicate balance between powers like China and the US, it will be hard for them to move toward challenging China any time soon, observers said.

'China must be prepared to reduce the fallout of the arbitration case with other claimant countries,' Gu Xiaosong, an expert on Southeast Asian studies at the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Scholars agreed that among the other claimant countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, Vietnam will most likely challenge China's maritime territories."

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http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/993850.shtml 

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