evidence: The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for its âNine-Dashed Lineâ claim in the South China Sea since formally announcing it in 2009. In a unanimous decision on July 12, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention â to which the PRC is a state party – rejected the PRCâs maritime claims as having no basis in international law. The Tribunal sided squarely with the Philippines, which brought the arbitration case, on almost all claims. [...] As Beijing has failed to put forth a lawful, coherent maritime claim in the South China Sea, the United States rejects any PRC claim to waters beyond a 12-nautical mile territorial sea derived from islands it claims in the Spratly Islands (without prejudice to other statesâ sovereignty claims over such islands). As such, the United States rejects any PRC maritime claim in the waters surrounding Vanguard Bank (off Vietnam), Luconia Shoals (off Malaysia), waters in Bruneiâs EEZ, and Natuna Besar (off Indonesia). Any PRC action to harass other statesâ fishing or hydrocarbon development in these waters â or to carry out such activities unilaterally â is unlawful.