Current Affairs - International - Discussion

A total of 12 nations, together with the United States and the United Kingdom, joined in issuing a joint statement reaffirming the 2016 Hague Arbitration ruling on the South China Sea. Altogether, the declaration was supported by 14 countries, which emphasised that China's expansive maritime claims have no legal basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The statement marked the tenth anniversary of the landmark arbitral award, reaffirmed the importance of international law, freedom of navigation, and peaceful dispute resolution, and expressed concern over actions that could undermine regional stability in the Indo-Pacific.