A day after an global tribunal said China had no legal basis for its expansive claim to the South China Sea, Beijing issued a policy paper saying the islands in the South China Sea are “China’s inherent territory”.
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The tribunal issued its ruling Tuesday in The Hague in response to an arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China.
Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who brought the case against China in 2013, said the decision brought clarity to the disputes that “now establishes better conditions that enable countries to engage each other, bearing in mind their duties and rights within a context that espouses equality and amity”.
Beijing insisted Wednesday, July 13, that it had sovereignty over the South China Sea, defying an worldwide tribunal ruling that its claims to a vast swathe of the waters had no legal basis.
He said such a move would be based on the level of threat against China.
The case was brought by the Philippines, a US ally.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others.
“Australia should authorise its forces to both sail and fly over the areas of the South China Sea”. China “solemnly declares that the award is null and void and has no binding force”.
Beijing has held naval drills between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan in recent days, while US Pacific Command said on Twitter that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan had launched flight operations to support “security, stability” in the South China Sea.
Manila’s 15-point case critically asks the tribunal to rule on the status of China’s so-called “nine-dash line”, a boundary that is the basis for its 69-year-old claim to roughly 85 percent of the South China Sea.
China considers bilateral talks with the other claimants the only way to address the South China Sea disputes.
China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea should under no circumstances be affected by such rulings, it said.
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”.
“We have seen some signs in recent weeks that some of that activity continues and we have been again very consistent, very clear with our Chinese counterparts about our ongoing concerns in that regard”.
During a conference call with reporters, a State Department official said the decision announced by the Law of the Sea Tribunal in The Hague was a “very sweeping and decisive ruling”. “There would be strong reputational costs”.
Taiwan has already rejected the ruling on Tuesday evening, saying the decision is not legally binding since Taiwan never took part in the arbitration process.
Specifically, a country can claim exclusive rights to resources within an EEZ extending 200 nautical miles from a continental shore line or around islands but only if they can prove those islands are habitable and can sustain economic life.
In 2013, the Philippines challenged China’s attempts to establish control over an area encompassing almost 90 per cent of the South China Sea.
China has caused permanent and irreparable harm to the coral reef ecosystem at the Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelago, and that it also has no historic title over waters of the South China Sea, the tribunal said.
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Gomez reported from Manila, Philippines.
