On June 20, 2016, the SIAS hosted its fifth “Marine Salon” about the arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China, concerning the South China Sea. The salon took place just before the inauguration of the Philippines’s new president, Rodrigo Duterte and the expected ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The comments made by Duterte and his team during his presidential election campaign were topic of discussion. 

Scholars from Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing PLA University of International Relations, Xinhua News Agency as well as SIAS researchers attended the salon. The participants focused on the question whether and how the election of Duterte as the new president of the Philippines will bring a new impact on the South China Sea Arbitration.