China continues to stand its ground on its territorial claims over disputed areas in the South China Sea as it rejected the ruling of an arbitration court in Netherlands that it has jurisdiction to hear the claims of the Philippines.
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By asserting that it has jurisdiction over Manila’s case, and will adjudicate the maritime boundaries of a select number of individual islands claimed by China, the PCA has already effectively undermined China’s claim, which is not based on individual islands.
Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a media briefing that the result of the ruling will by no means affect China’s sovereignty and rights on the South China Sea.
Anger over the U.S.’s move in the South China Sea dominated the headlines of major newspapers in China Wednesday.
Analysts said the tribunal’s decision had already put China at a disadvantage, as it might encourage the other claimants.
By effectively dismissing the claims of China and also Taiwan over the South China Sea in advance of its ruling, the Tribunal has set the stage for a further escalation of tensions in this risky global flashpoint.
Wu called the US decision to sail the ships provocative while he warned of the possibility of violence.
Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, Manila chief’s lawyer in the case, said the ruling represented a “significant step forward in the Philippines’ quest for a peaceful, impartial resolution of the disputes between the parties and the clarification of their rights under UNCLOS”. “China would only use force to “teach a lesson” to small countries, it would not dare challenge the US’ military capability”, Sun Yat-sen University military expert David Tsui said, adding that not offending the USA had been a maxim of Mao Zedong. The case is being closely watched by the United States, a Philippines treaty ally.
On Tuesday, the Aegis destroyer USS Lassen entered within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, an undersea cliff in the South China Sea, which Beijing turned into an artificial island. “Nothing has been canceled”, said the official.
Wu said Thursday China had repeatedly expressed its opposition to US entry into its “sovereign” waters, but the warnings had not been heeded.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the United States takes no position on competing sovereignty claims to land futures in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, although the U.S. has no intentions of claims over the disputed area in the South China Sea, but its sea and air assets sail and flies near China’s reclaimed islands.
Two Royal Australian Navy ANZAC frigates are due to arrive tomorrow in China’s naval base Zhanjiang for a port visit, ahead of live-fire exercises with the PLA Navy’s South Sea Fleet scheduled to start on Monday.
China has made it clear it will not accept nor get involved in these proceedings initiated unilaterally by the Philippines.
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Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio earlier suggested that the country may seek relief from the PCA to stop the reclamation of China at the West Philippine Sea as a “provisional measure”.
