evidence: The Philippines’ territorial claims in the South China Sea (which it calls the West Philippine Sea) are largely based on historical fishing ground claims. The country also asserts that what China claims are "islands" are actually "low-tide land masses" and shoals, which are therefore part of the Philippines’ EEZ. Starting in the 1970s, the Philippines began strongly asserting its territorial ownership of the Scarborough Shoal and other nearby shoals and land masses. [...] The territorial dispute between China and the Philippines reached a head in 2013 when the Philippines brought a case against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague challenging China’s territorial claims. The PCA released its ruling in 2016, largely siding with the Philippines in the territorial dispute. The PCA ruling (also called the 2016 Arbitral Agreement) stated that China’s Nine-Dash Line territorial claims were not legally supported; China violated the Philippines’ territorial integrity, and China’s reclamation activities in the disputed area violated international environmental law. China has since rejected the ruling and continued claiming territorial rights in the area. This agreement is the primary source of international law used by both the Philippines and the US to assert the area near the Scarborough Shoal is part of the Philippines’ EEZ.