X. DISPOSITIF

1202. The Tribunal recalls and incorporates the following findings reached unanimously in its Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility of 29 October 2015:

A. that the Tribunal was properly constituted in accordance with Annex VII to the Convention.

B. that China's non-appearance in these proceedings does not deprive the Tribunal of jurisdiction.

C. that the Philippines’ act of initiating this arbitration did not constitute an abuse of process.

D. that there is no indispensable third party whose absence deprives the Tribunal of jurisdiction.

E. that the 2002 China-ASEAN Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea, the joint statements of the Parties referred to in paragraphs 231 to 232 of the Tribunal's Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility of 29 October 2015, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, do not preclude, under Articles 281 or 282 of the Convention, recourse to the compulsory dispute settlement procedures available under Section 2 of Part XV of the Convention.

F. that the Parties have exchanged views as required by Article 283 of the Convention.

G. that the Tribunal has jurisdiction to consider the Philippines’ Submissions No. 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 13, subject to the conditions noted in paragraphs 400, 401, 403, 404, 407, 408, and 410 of the Tribunal's Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility of 29 October 2015.

1203. For the reasons set out in this Award, the Tribunal unanimously, and without prejudice to any questions of sovereignty or maritime boundary delimitation, decides as follows:

A. I In relation to its jurisdiction, the Tribunal:

(1) FINDS that China's claims in the South China Sea do not include a claim to ‘historic title’, within the meaning of Article 298(l)(a)(i) of the Convention, over the waters of the South China Sea and that the Tribunal, therefore, has jurisdiction to consider the Philippines’ Submissions No. 1 and 2;

(2) FINDS, with respect to the Philippines’ Submission No. 5:

a. that no maritime feature claimed by China within 200 nautical miles of Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal constitutes a fully entitled island for the purposes of Article 121 of the Convention and therefore that no maritime feature claimed by China within 200 nautical miles of Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal has the capacity to generate an entitlement to an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf;