MANILA, Philippines – An American academic expert on Chinese studies believes that the international arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China’s sweeping territorial claims won’t succeed.

Marwyn Samuels, professor emeritus at the Syracuse University in New York, said this is because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will take a long time to scrutinize Manila’s documents since the issue involves legal and technical matters.

“UNCLOS will have a very long time trying to come to a decision on this issue. It will not be a very quick decision,” Samuels said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart on Thursday.

“That’s very technical. It’s almost outside the legal authority of UNCLOS itself,” he added.

Samuels, who is the author of the first detailed study of the origins and possible consequences of the South China Sea dispute, also pointed out that the Asian power is not likely to pay too much attention to these legal niceties.

Read more: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/04/03/1308352/phl-case-vs-china-will-fail-us-expert