A Taiwanese group has intervened in the Philippines' international court case against China's claims in the South China Sea, pressing Taipei's position that Taiwan is entitled to a swath of the disputed waterway as an economic zone.
The unusual submission has emerged just as judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague are poised to rule on the Philippines' landmark case, brought under the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The move could delay the judges' ruling, now expected within two months, and potentially complicates worsening territorial disputes roiling across the vital trade route.