The Spratly Islands are henceforth no longer islands, but demoted to lowly rocks and low-tide features. That is one of the far-reaching implications from this week’s portentous ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal, on the dispute brought by the Philippines against China in the South China Sea.

No judgment was made about sovereignty, but all five judges comprehensively found China’s South China Sea claims to be excessive. A coach and horses has been driven through Beijing (and Taipei’s) Nine Dash Line map as a basis for jurisdiction. China’s claim to historic rights across most of the South China Sea has been found to have no legal foundation, while the land-based exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia have all been significantly buttressed. After decades of shrinkage, under the pressure of ever-expanding maritime claims, the ebb tide for the “high seas” has finally turned as a result of a decision out of the Netherlands. Hugo Grotius, the 17th century Dutch jurist and originator of the high seas concept, would be tickled orange.

The Hague Tribunal will be remembered for raising the legal bar of what constitutes an island, to features that can naturally sustain “a stable community of people”. That finding, intended to inject clarity into the UN Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS), creates an important precedent. Japan and even the United States could find the question asked of them, including by China, in relation to their more questionable claims in the Pacific. When that challenge comes, it should be graciously accepted as a necessary price to support the Philippines’ plucky contribution to the international rules-based order.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/opinion/south-china-sea-court-loss-takes-initiative-away-from-china-20160714-gq5vmm#ixzz4EU8scz4A