Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) An international arbitration ruling on a South China Sea case brought by the Philippines has attempted to reel in China but has instead affected Taiwan, with the ruling defining the Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island in the Spratlys as a “rock” and not an “island,” an article published by a Canadian think tank said recently.

The July 12 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration on China’s actions and claims in the South China Sea, including the building of artificial islands and the threat of force to control key fishing grounds, is important to the dispute’s overall narrative, David Sutton said in the Aug. 12 article published on the website of the NATO Association of Canada.

“Based on standing international law, it is clear that China’s actions are an affront to those agreements and understandings,” said Sutton, a research analyst at the Toronto-based think tank.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201608170015.aspx