Filipino netizens and activists are a demanding a “Chexit” – that China pull out of their country’s territorial water – after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines against China’s claims in the South China Sea (known in the Philippines as West Philippine Sea).
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China’s Foreign Ministry criticized a statement made by the US State Department approving Hague arbitration court’s decision on China’s territorial rights in the South China Sea.
The tribunal has no power of enforcement, making the ruling’s impact uncertain since Beijing boycotted the case entirely and declared the ruling null and void.
Referring to media reports which termed the panel as United Nations tribunal, Lu said that now that the “UN agency has clarified we hope the relevant media would not make similar mistake in future”.
China has been questioning the credibility of the tribunal and its panel who unanimously struck down Beijing’s claims over nearly all of the South China Sea based on historic rights and upheld the rights of the Philippines.
Beijing reacted angrily to the tribunal’s ruling, saying it would not recognise the decision and stressing that the disputes should be resolved through bilateral talks. China respects worldwide law – if any nation violates it, the consequences will not be only reputational costs, Lu said, noting that Beijing upholds the sanctity of the global law and rejects any action that violates it.
India and Japan on Thursday asked China to go in for a peaceful settlement of the South China Sea dispute, without using force or blocking free passage of ships and aircraft. Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies say the ruling could help convince Beijing to treat Manila and other claimants fairly in the medium-to-long term. China claims much of the South China Sea comes under its jurisdiction.
China has won the support of Laos in rejecting the outcome of a court ruling against China’s claims in the South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday. “The most hard part after this is to convince China to recognize the authority of the Philippines over the islands and hopefully they will quietly leave”, he said, “But if they will not leave then we will have to extend our hand of friendship to them and convince them that they are also a priority to our lives”. Asked about USA official’s comment that Washington has interest in the Asia Pacific region like China and there will be more competition between America and China in the SCS region in view of the verdict, Lu said China has never tried to deny the legitimate interests of the U.S. the region.
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However, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued a joint statement encouraging other claimants to seek similar resolution of maritime disputes through arbitration and said that the USA should be “regularly challenging China’s excessive maritime claims” through air and warship patrols. Meanwhile, reclaiming land around Scarborough Shoal, which lies less than 140 miles from the US-allied Philippines, risks an American naval response. China and other countries in the region have our immediate interests. The Chinese premier called on Vietnam to value the hard- won momentum in the development of bilateral relations and jointly safeguard peace and stability in the SCS with China.
