Five years ago on this day, an international tribunal in a landmark ruling dismissed Beijing’s claim to much of the South China Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague said on 12 July 2016 that there was no evidence that China had exercised exclusive control historically over the key waterway. What was expected to catalyse a stronger pushback against Chinese actions in the disputed sea has, essentially, been reduced to just a moral victory for the Philippines. Clearly the verdict has had little impact on China’s behaviour as its land reclamation and creeping militarisation continues unabated, while its vessels regularly intrude into Filipino waters.