(Analysis) South China Sea: Why Beijing avoids the court
2014-12-12 08:50:20 source：Lowy Interpreter
By Jessica Tang
December 12, 2014
"On 7 December, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an official position paper outlining China's legal position on the South China Sea UNCLOS arbitration. This paper appears to serve two purposes.
First, China seeks to indirectly participate in the arbitration without formally acknowledging its legitimacy. While the Foreign Ministry has timed the release of this paper to coincide with the 15 December deadline for China to file an official response to the Philippine submission, it has chosen not to submit this paper formally. As Julian Ku of Opinio Juris aptly puts it:
It's the best of both worlds for China, since if the tribunal is influenced by the position paper, then this is good for China. If the tribunal ultimately reject the legal position and asserts jurisdiction, China will be able to say that it never actually participated in the arbitration anyway."
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