The arbitration concerned the role of historic rights and the source of maritime entitlements in the South China Sea. It was pursuant to Part XV of, and Annex VII to, the Convention that the Philippines commenced this arbitration against China on 22 January.The Philippines initiated arbitration proceedings against China pursuant to. The tribunal considered China's arguments and in October 2015 found that it had jurisdiction to rule on 7 of the Philippines' 15 submissions. The wait is over: a judgment has been issued in the Philippines v. China South China Sea arbitration. As provided in the Convention, the Tribunal's decision is final and legally binding on both China and the Philippines. What should the U.S. and its close allies do about China's strategic expansion into the South China Sea? Although China did not participate in the Philippines v. China arbitration case, China consistently justified participation based on legal arguments,.