The Caribbean had better keep a close watch on the continuing disputes in the South China Sea between China and other Asian countries, notably Japan.

China has claimed sovereignty over various small sand banks in the area and enlarged them into islands which they have developed as military and naval bases. This has raised anxiety in Asia because the sovereignty over the islands is disputed and the dispute has never been definitively settled.

Concern also has arisen because it is seen as the naked use of power to assert China’s dominance in the Pacific Ocean in disregard of international law. Worried by the perceived encroachment, Asian countries have successfully lobbied the United States to reassert and escalate its naval presence in the Pacific. But this has not deterred China.

The Philippines initiated proceedings against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is currently having its summer session in Kingston. On July 12, 2016, the PCA ruled unanimously in favour of the Philippines, invalidating China’s claim by classifying maritime features it occupies as rocks, low tide elevations, or submerged banks, but not islands.

The ruling also upholds the Philippines’ right to operate without Chinese harassment inside its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf as outlined by UNCLOS. Further, the PCA rejected China’s argument that it enjoys historic rights since ancient times over most of the South China Sea, and declared that China had violated international law by causing “irreparable harm” to the marine environment, endangering Philippine ships, and interfering with Philippine fishing and oil exploration.

The ruling could embolden the governments of Brunei, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam to pursue their maritime disputes with Beijing. However, the ruling is a pyrrhic victory because there is no mechanism for enforcing it. China has consistently refused, since February 2012, to participate in the tribunal’s proceedings or to abide by its rulings.

There are numerous implications of relevance to the Caribbean. First, small states need international law to be respected so that they are not abused and terrorised by larger, more powerful countries. Second, the unprecedented behaviour from China, acting like any other hegemonic imperialist superpower, is worrying because hubris can become a habit. Third, the resolution of land border disputes and maritime demarcation disputes is important because Guatemala claims a large part of Belize and Venezuela claims half of Guyana.

There are also several maritime demarcation disputes in the Caribbean including overlapping exclusive economic zones such as Venezuela’s claim to Bird Island which, if upheld, would give that country a 200-nautical mile EEZ around the island.

As is too often the case, there is no common Caricom position. Antigua has welcomed the PCA ruling and expressed the belief that the two countries can negotiate a settlement. Dominica, critically dependent on China’s financial aid, has said it is “unfortunate” that an international tribunal on the South China Sea dispute had listened “to one side of the matter” before giving a ruling.

Jamaica has kept its mouth shut, perhaps in the mistaken view that ‘coward man keep sound bone’.