Philippines Takes Dispute With China to the U.N.

Territory in the South China Sea causing headaches

The Philippines is taking China to a United Nations court in hopes of settling a long-running dispute over territory in the South China Sea.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario says Manila is taking the case to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea because it has "exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a negotiated settlement."

"The Philippines is requesting the arbitral tribunal to issue an award that, among other [things] … declares that China's maritime claims in the South China Sea based on its so-called nine-dash line are contrary to UNCLOS and invalid," he said.