China’s Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters Wednesday that the nation has “the right” to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea following the rejection of Chinese territorial claims in the region by the Hague.
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On Tuesday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that there was no legal basis for Beijing to claim historic rights to resources within much of the South China Sea.
China rejects South China Sea tribunal ruling and says it has right to set up air defence zone if threatened. China declared an ADIZ over disputed islands in the East China Sea in 2013, escalating tensions with the United States and Japan.
It can not be overlooked either that Beijing conducted large-scale military exercises before the arbitration court’s ruling, in a show of its effective control over the South China Sea.
Yasay will at Asem represent President Rodrigo Duterte, who has signalled he wants to avoid a major diplomatic falling-out with China over the issue.
The Hague ruling sets out clearly the rights and obligations of the various parties involved in the quarrel, with the Philippines clearly the victor.
China was “the first to have discovered, named, and explored and exploited” islands in the sea and their surrounding waters, the document said. But China has reiterated that it has no intention of recognizing the court’s ruling.
China is also building its fifth lighthouse on the Sprtalys, at a time when the Philippines and other United States allies have been expressing alarm over its maritime expansion in the sea, which they suspect is aimed at extending its military reach.
China has in recent years undertaken giant land reclamation works in the Spratlys archipelago, one of the biggest island groups in the sea which partly falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Taiwan responded by sending a warship to the area. The U.N. ruling comes on the heels of rising tensions between Korea and China over an announcement by Seoul and Washington to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense battery here.
“In those public statements made by relevant governments, if it is said that the dispute should be resolved by fully complying with the global law, I think it is the same with what Chinese government is upholding”, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said when he was asked to react to India’s statement.
He said the tribunal had been “unlawful” and the ruling would “not have any effect on China’s existing policy”.
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Western powers, which have an interest in maintaining “freedom of navigation” in waters that support more than US$5 trillion in shipping trade annually, have already put pressure on China to honour the ruling.
