Philippines left out of China's development largesse over South China Sea objections

The Philippines has infuriated China by asking a United Nations arbitration panel in The Hague to rule on the legality of China's "nine-dash line" that marks its claim to almost the entire South China Sea. The line loops down like a lolling cow's tongue from the Chinese coast all the way to Indonesia. Along the way, it cuts through the Philippines' exclusive economic zone as mandated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

No other country has joined the legal action, even though Chinese territorial claims in the area also conflict with those of Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. For a while, the Philippines hoped Vietnam might come on board, but that prospect is now looking more remote as China and Vietnam patch up relations.

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