A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday said that “China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea shall under no circumstances be affected by those awards”.
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Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who helped oversee the filing of the case, said the ruling underscored “our collective belief that right is might and that worldwide law is the great equalizer among states”.
Six countries – Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – claim part or all of the islands in the resource-rich South China Sea and their surrounding waters.
The ruling will be seen as a victory by other regional claimants such the Philippines and Vietnam, but with China rejecting the ruling and saying its military would defend its sovereign rights, nerves were on edge. Li Guoqian, Deputy Director of Chinese Frontier Research at the Chinese Academy of Social Science, said, “China laid its foundation in the South China Sea 2,000 years ago and we have been working hard to maintain the place and utilize it peacefully, “Souhu reports”.
The tribunal concluded that China doesn’t have the right to resources within its “nine-dash line”, which extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and covers some 90% of the disputed waters. “When China kicked the Filipinos out of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, that was the last straw”. They called their campaign to push China out of the South China Sea, “CHexit” or “China exit now”.
The Philippines asked the court to decide what rights it has to the disputed waters under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). “China opposes and will never accept any claim or action based on those awards”, it said.
China has refused to participate in the case, which marks the first time an global court has ruled on the sea’s mess of overlapping claims, and analysts expect the ruling to largely go against Beijing.
The statement read that the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea should by all means be stressed.
It also tackled the other issues and arguments raised by the Philippines in its case. Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay called it a “milestone decision” and pledged to pursue a peaceful resolution of its territorial disputes with China.
However, analysts say the ruling could heighten strains in a region already bristling with tension, especially if it provokes a defiant reaction from China. Manila brought the case because China’s claims infringe upon its own 200-mile exclusive economic zone. It also said China’s construction work had caused irreparable damage to coral reefs.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the tribunal’s decision is “final and legally binding” and that the two sides should comply with it.
Lee Amber of the Vietnamese Community in the Philippines (VCP), said their group is one with the Philippines.
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The tribunal said that any historical resource rights China may have had were wiped out if they are incompatible with exclusive economic zones established under the United Nations treaty, which both countries have signed. The fishermen were rescued by a fellow fishing trawler some seven hours later.
