Taiwan’s government is preparing for the ruling of an arbitration court on China’s dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague is set to issue its ruling on July 12. Beijing has already said it does not consider the court to have jurisdiction.
Taiwan is also a claimant to the islands and marine resources of the South China Sea. Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang said Tuesday that the government will be watching the outcome closely.
Huang said, "At the moment the newest information about the ruling is being handled by the relevant departments and they are conducting forecasts and evaluations on possible outcomes so that we will have an idea how to proceed when the time comes."
Huang also restated the government’s position that territorial disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved by recourse to international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.