“Neither side wants outright conflict,” said David Firestein, who oversees the China, East Asia and United States Program at the EastWest Institute, “and I continue to believe that, for the long-term picture in the South China Sea, this judgment won’t have a decisive impact, it doesn’t change dynamics.”

Firestein was commenting on a decision on July 12 by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that rejected China's claims over some areas in the territory. This was the first time an international body has laid down a legally binding ruling in the South China Sea dispute, a tangled web of overlapping claims from seven nations.

But the tribunal has no enforcement powers. China said it did not recognize the ruling in the case, which was brought by the Philippines.

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