A white paper – “China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea” – has been published following a ruling in an arbitration case initiated by the Philippines that said China had no “historic title” over the sea.
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After China refused to abide by an global tribunal’s ruling against its expansive claim in the strategic South China Sea, the U.S. has warned that violation of worldwide norms by “bigger countries” can be disruptive and asserted that the verdict is binding and final.
The five judges who ruled in the case “made money from the Philippines”, Liu said, adding “and maybe other people gave them money too”.
John Key has welcomed the global tribunal’s landmark ruling to reject China’s extensive claims to islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Manila was seeking a ruling that would invalidate China’s nine-dash line; classifies maritime features occupied by China as rocks, low tide elevations, or submerged banks, but not islands; and declares the Philippines’ right to operate inside of its Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf without Chinese harassment.
Regarding the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China’s ambassador says the door to negotiations with the Philippines is still open and that it’s in USA interests to back bilateral talks.
China’s Wednesday statement also slammed The Hague’s arbitration court ruling once again, calling it “a political farce under the cloak of law”.
China expressed outrage over the decision handed down in The Hague. The ruling was also a victory for other claimants in their decades-long disputes with China over the resource-rich waters. “Much like a poisoned tree, which will never bear good fruit, the award issued in the South China Sea arbitration was contaminated from the start”, it wrote in one of the editorials, while it pushed other reports on the support China has been getting from experts in countries like Sudan and Pakistan.
Channel News Asia reported that Singapore does not claim any part of the South China Sea, but it is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ coordinator for China relations.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it would continue to send planes and ships to the South China Sea on patrol missions and to defend Taiwan’s territory and sovereignty.
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“This is the policy of the Chinese government and hope that neighbouring countries in the South China Sea and ASEAN countries jointly uphold peace and stability of the South China Sea and freedom of navigation and over flights”, he told reporters. “China has spoken strong words but still diplomatic”, Shen said.
