Duterte’s announcement came just two days after an global arbitration court in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines by rejecting China’s historical claims to most of the South China Sea as legally invalid.
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Assembly in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, Li told Abe that China’s position on the South China Sea was fully in line with worldwide law, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Goldberg also said there were three principles that guide “US interest in the South China Sea Issue”.
“We’re urging both China and the Philippines to abide by the ruling”, he said, adding the U.S. was working “with Australia, and countries throughout the region, to insist that the liberal worldwide order be maintained as it relates to sustaining the free flow of commerce-keeping sea lanes open and the skies free for navigation”.
Manila has so far been keen not to rock the boat in the hope of starting dialogue towards Beijing allowing it to exercise what the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled were its sovereign maritime rights.
“We value the award given by the (tribunal), and the Philippines will not concede any of the awards given to us”, Calida said.
Japan viewed the decision as a boon for its own territorial dispute with Beijing in the East China Sea, but many legal scholars have already begun picking apart the logic of The Hague ruling pointing to the fact that China has long maintained physical control of the territory.
At a briefing this week, Chinese assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou said that ASEM was “not an appropriate venue” to discuss the South China Sea issue. The court ruled that while China has no historic rights to the area within its self-declared nine-dash line, Taiwan has no right to Itu Aba, also called Taiping, the largest island in the Spratlys.
One day later, he told Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen that China will work with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to protect regional peace and stability as well as the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, brought the case against China and bolstered security relations with treaty ally the United States to deter assertive Chinese actions, considerably straining ties.
In response to the ruling, Mr Luton said: “We would not abide any decision”.
The South China Sea does not need unnecessary geopolitical tension, urged Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former Hong Kong Chief Executive.
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While the European Union is neutral in China’s dispute with its Asian neighbors in the South China Sea, Britain, France and Germany want to make clear that Beijing must uphold worldwide law as it seeks a bigger global role.
