Vietnam is advancing Naval Diplomacy, and it could do much more.

The note seems to indicate, for the first time, an official Vietnamese position on the legal status of all high-tide features in both the Spratly and Paracel Islands. It implies that all high-tide features in the Spratly Islands, as well as in the Paracel Islands, are rocks that do not generate any entitlement to an EEZ or continental shelf.  

Suggestions for lasting peace in the South China Sea and beyond need to incorporate small and medium states as well.

"Four-Sha" is a lens through which Chinese long-term ambitious claims over the South China Sea is fully exposed.  The current global health crisis provides a window of opportunity for the realisation of Chinese lofty hegemonic dream. While the international community may choose to laugh at China’s baseless claims or stay alerted and be vocal against its attempts to rewrite international law, the acquiesced will be faced with the glaring consequence of a new world order to the favour of one and to the detriment of all, that will emerge at the end of the current war against COVID-19 and begin with lawlessness at sea.

The 2019 Malaysian partial CLCS submission renewed the legal exchanges over the South China Sea. Most of the claimants, except China and Brunei, through their statements and actions, expressed acceptance and support for the 2016 Tribunal Award.