Grappling with the worldwide tribunal’s verdict quashing its claims over the South China Sea, China today turned down U.S. advise to follow India’s example of settling its maritime row with Bangladesh by implementing the judgement saying that there is “no comparison” between the two cases.
Advertisement
Beijing responded on Wednesday by releasing a White Paper that justifies China’s position on the South China Sea dispute with almost 150 arguments and dismisses the Philippines’ claims of sovereignty as “baseless”.
The administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping has been increasing efforts to militarize seven artificial islands that his country has built in the South China Sea, thus heightening regional tensions.
The five-chapter whitepaper was released after the Arbitral Tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in The Hague, announced on Tuesday that China has no “historic title” over the South China Sea.
The court ruled unanimously that China has no historical rights to landmasses or territorial waters in the region and noted the severe environmental damage caused by Chinese reclamation activities.
“If our security is being threatened, of course we have the right to demarcate a zone”.
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 is claiming over 90 percent of the West Philippine Sea under its so-called “nine-dash line”, encompassing water falling under the jurisdiction of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.
If China still remains in UNCLOS, China faces a dilemma between respecting UNCLOS and protecting the legality of China’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, Pan said.
Those claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
There was therefore no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the “nine-dash line”, the court said.
China is also desperate to ensure the other countries involved in the dispute do not openly support the tribunal’s ruling.
Chang’s deputy, Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), said the government “will not cooperate with China on the sovereignty issue in the South China Sea”.
In another development on Wednesday, two Chinese civilian aircraft landed at two new airports on reefs controlled by China in the South China Sea.
Advertisement
Manila, under previous president Benigno Aquino, launched the legal case in 2013 after China took control of Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and far away from the nearest major Chinese landmass.
