An international court will rule next month on the validity of China’s claims to a large swath of one of the world’s busiest and most disputed waterways.
The court will release its decision on the South China Sea on July 12, first to the parties involved and then to observer states, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Philippines brought the case to the tribunal, challenging China’s assertions to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea. Whatever the court finds, the ruling will risk inflaming tensions in the waterway, which hosts about $5 trillion of trade a year.
