Later this year, The Hague is expected to render its decision in a dispute over China's land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea. Most observers expect the court to rule against Beijing. Few expect Beijing to take such a verdict lightly.

The case, brought by the Philippines in 2013, argues that China's Spratly Island activities violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Specifically, it maintains that Beijing has been building in and extracting resources from the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, making spurious claims to water and airspace, and that China's "historical" claims to waters within the nine-dash line are invalid.