Beijing knows it would be very difficult to justify its notorious nine-dashed-line doctrine.
To the surprise of many observers, Vietnam joined the fray by submitting a position paper to the arbitral tribunal in The Hague last Friday, which contains three main points: It expressed its support for the Philippines' case; questioned the "nine-dashed-line" doctrine; and asked the arbitral tribunal to give due regard to Vietnam's rights and interests.
"This is not a difference between one group of people with a hard line of doctrine and another group who are saying we have got to be compassionate... It's actually saying 'how are we compassionate?'" Welby said on BBC Newsnight.
Welby told BBC2's Newsnight on Monday: "This is not a difference between one group of people with a hard line of doctrine and another group of people who are saying we have got to be compassionate.
But the draft D.P.G. is now seen as defining the hard-line neoconservative doctrine that contemplated, among other things, preëmptive warfare.
It would have to be rationally reformed, of course: the Bible would have to be interpreted in light of recent historical findings, belief in miracles abandoned, the clergy educated along modern lines and doctrine adapted to a softer age.
These are uncertain days in the real Pyongyang, where the death of the longtime leader, Kim Jong-il, and the succession of his son, Kim Jong-un, have raised fears of instability, creating an atmosphere in which the slightest deviation from hard-line Communist doctrine is an invitation to a lengthy prison term in a labor camp.
Tao literally means "way", but can also be interpreted as road, channel, path, doctrine, or line.
American forces say the shift is in line with counterinsurgency doctrine to protect population centers.
Everyone knows that the Democratic position that seeks few or no restrictions on abortion rights is not in line with Catholic doctrine.
