CHINA’S latest sermon on the sanctity of international law is a jaw-dropping display of chutzpah. Scolding the U.S. for a reported deep-sea metals stockpile plan, Beijing invokes the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) like a pious preacher—while conveniently forgetting its own rap sheet, headlined by the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Ruling it treated like junk mail. For Kweba ng Katarungan’s discerning readers, let’s rip apart this legal hypocrisy, expose its global fallout, and chart a course through the geopolitical muck with the sharp, irreverent edge you expect.

Beijing’s Seabed Sermon: Crocodile Tears Over UNCLOS

China’s foreign ministry had a meltdown on April 14, 2025, clutching UNCLOS like a lifeline to condemn a U.S. plan to stockpile deep-sea metals, as reported by the Financial Times. The Trump administration’s draft executive order aims to secure Pacific seabed resources to break China’s chokehold on rare earths—those 17 elements powering everything from F-35 jets to Tesla batteries. Beijing, which controls 90% of global supply and wields export bans like a cudgel, cried foul, insisting that seabed resources are the “common heritage of mankind” under UNCLOS Article 136. Exploration, they huffed, must bow to the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

Sounds noble, doesn’t it? Except China’s sudden devotion to UNCLOS is as sincere as a used car salesman’s handshake. This is the same nation that’s spent years treating the treaty like a choose-your-own-adventure novel, most glaringly by shredding the 2016 PCA ruling that exposed its South China Sea land grab.

The 2016 Smackdown: China’s Legal Waterloo

Flash back to July 12, 2016, when the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) dropped a legal bombshell. The Philippines, fed up with China’s “nine-dash line” claiming 90% of the South China Sea, won a unanimous ruling under UNCLOS Annex VII. The tribunal torched China’s historical claims as baseless under Articles 3, 56, and 77, which grant coastal states EEZ rights. It also slammed China’s reef-destroying reclamation and militarized islands as violations of Articles 60, 80, and 192—rules on artificial structures and environmental protection.

China’s response? It ghosted the arbitration, leaning on a 2006 declaration to dodge certain disputes, and branded the ruling “null and void.” Since then, it’s kept building fortresses on reefs and harassing neighbors’ vessels, spitting in the face of UNCLOS’s binding dispute resolution (Articles 286-296). X posts from legal eagles like @fthilbay and diplomats like @germanyinphl affirm the ruling’s weight, but China treats it like a parking ticket it can ignore.

China’s UNCLOS Rap Sheet: Rules Are for Suckers

China’s hypocrisy isn’t just talk—it’s action. Beyond trashing the 2016 ruling, its maritime antics mock UNCLOS at every turn:

• EEZ Piracy: China’s coast guard and fishing armadas routinely invade the Philippines’ and Vietnam’s EEZs, flouting Article 56’s sovereign resource rights. Picture Filipino fishers dodging Chinese gunboats near Scarborough Shoal.
• Reef Wrecking: The PCA called out China’s reclamation for obliterating coral ecosystems, breaching Article 192’s environmental mandate. Yet 2024 satellite images show bigger outposts, with dredging as relentless as ever.
• Fortress Frenzy: Turning reefs into missile-laden bases violates Article 60’s limits on non-economic structures. The Spratlys aren’t hosting eco-retreats—they’re China’s unsinkable aircraft carriers.

Now, China lectures the U.S. for possibly sidestepping the ISA’s seabed mining rules. This is rich—like a fox guarding the henhouse, then yelling about coop security.

Global Chaos Alert: When Rules Become Punchlines

China’s UNCLOS flip-flopping isn’t just a legal embarrassment—it’s a wrecking ball. Legally, it guts the treaty’s compulsory dispute resolution, signaling that power trumps precedent. If a UNCLOS signatory like China can ignore binding rulings, why bother with the PCA or ISA? Smaller nations, especially Pacific Island states, get squeezed when the rules-based order becomes a suggestion.

Geopolitically, this stokes U.S.-China tensions. The U.S., to be clear, isn’t Mother Teresa—it’s never ratified UNCLOS, citing Part XI’s seabed rules, and claims mining as a “high seas freedom.” That’s a shaky stance when UNCLOS governs the seabed explicitly. But China’s violations—encroaching on sovereign EEZs and trashing ecosystems—hit harder than the U.S.’s potential ISA dodge, which targets international waters. Both, though, risk turning the seabed into a Wild West.

Pacific Island nations are collateral damage. Nauru eyes mining’s economic upside, while Fiji demands a moratorium to save fragile deep-sea ecosystems. Environmental groups like Greenpeace warn of biodiversity collapse, and China’s green posturing is laughable given its reef-killing spree. The U.S. must avoid the same trap—mining’s ecological toll demands scrutiny.

Stars and Stripes vs. Red Dragon: A Hypocrisy Showdown

The U.S. isn’t exactly waving the UNCLOS flag either. Its non-ratification leaves it preaching from the sidelines, relying on customary law and Pacific alliances like shiprider agreements to counter China. But customary law is a flimsy shield when UNCLOS rules the seabed. If the U.S. skips ISA approval, it gifts China a propaganda coup—Beijing’s already framing it as Yanqui lawlessness.

China, meanwhile, wields UNCLOS as a weapon when convenient (seabed mining) and ignores it when not (South China Sea). The distinction? China’s actions violate other states’ rights; the U.S.’s plan, while legally dubious, isn’t yet territorial bullying. Still, both flirt with a future where the seabed’s riches spark a global free-for-all.

Battle Plan: Slaying the Hypocrisy Dragon

Enough hand-wringing—here’s how to tackle this legal-geopolitical quagmire with precision:

1. Expose China’s Double-Dealing: The U.S. and allies like Japan and Australia should hammer China’s UNCLOS contradictions in global forums. Link its mining rhetoric to its 2016 defiance—nothing stings like public shaming.
2. Supercharge the ISA: The ISA needs muscle. Push for tougher enforcement and Pacific Island inclusion to stop unilateral mining grabs. Nauru and Fiji deserve seats, not sidelines.
3. U.S. Game-Changer: Ratify UNCLOS to steal China’s legal thunder. If not, align the stockpile plan with ISA allies to blunt Beijing’s narrative. Half-measures won’t cut it.
4. Green Reality Check: Deep-sea mining’s risks demand a science-driven pause. A temporary ban, backed by independent research, exposes China’s eco-hypocrisy and keeps the U.S. honest.
5. Win the Global South: Offer Pacific and ASEAN nations aid that respects sovereignty, not China’s debt-trap loans. Economic and environmental support beats military posturing.

Final Salvo: Stop the Legal Free-Fall

China’s UNCLOS grandstanding over U.S. seabed plans is a masterclass in gall—preaching law while practicing lawlessness. The 2016 ruling looms like a legal albatross, yet Beijing dares to play the purist. The U.S. isn’t spotless, tempting its own UNCLOS sidestep, but China’s sins—trampling EEZs and reefs—carry heavier weight.

This isn’t just a legal cage match; it’s a referendum on whether international law can withstand superpower tantrums. The playbook—diplomacy, stronger institutions, environmental rigor—isn’t glamorous but it’s effective. Let China and the U.S. keep treating UNCLOS like a suggestion, and the seabed becomes a battleground, with Pacific fishers and fragile corals as the first casualties. Kweba ng Katarungan readers know the stakes: when giants play fast and loose with rules, it’s the rule of law itself that sinks. Time to hold both accountable before the ocean floor becomes their next playground.