Manila Is Taking Beijing to Court Over the South China Sea Again

Can another lawsuit stop China's push? History suggests the real battle lies elsewhere.

- Mara Cepeda

It must have been a jarring sight for Philippine officials: a once-thriving coral reef system in Sabina Shoal, now reduced to a skeletal graveyard of broken, bleached fragments at the bottom of the South China Sea.

The footage, shared with the media by the Philippine Coast Guard in mid-2024, painted a grim picture of an underwater wasteland where life once flourished, now left barren by what Manila claimed was the aftermath of China's island-building activities.

Beijing denied the accusations, of course.

Now, the Philippines is preparing to drag China to court again — this time for the destruction of marine ecosystems in the waterway and the damage inflicted upon Philippine ships by larger Chinese vessels.

In 2016, Manila won a landmark victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which rejected Beijing's sweeping claims over nearly the entire South China Sea and threw out its basis of historical rights. But China has ignored this ruling and ramped up its assertive behavior instead.

No wonder the Philippines is adamant to sue again. "The sins (of China) are really so obvious. In the end, this is the best way to attack," said Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Jan 23, adding that the government is assessing the best legal forum to file the case.

THE LIMITS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Will a new legal challenge against China hold it to account or halt its activities there?

For years, the Philippines has leaned on international law to counter China's expansionism, building a legal case against Beijing's increased military activities and encroachment into disputed waters in the South China Sea.

But Beijing's activities in the South China Sea in the past decade have shown that a superpower can simply shrug off unfavorable rulings.