Instead, it says it wants to agree a code of conduct to manage relations in the South China Sea with its South East Asian neighbours, but talks on that have yet to yield any fruit.
Advertisement
In the case filed at the tribunal in January 2013, Manila also contends that China’s aggressive reclamation activities in the sea violate the United Nations convention.
“The Chinese government’s refusal to honor the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction [over] the Philippine case does not mean that the tribunal can not proceed with hearing the petition”, Tuazon explained.
But despite its extensive claims in the South China Sea, there is no evidence China is threatening that freedom.
Making the rounds in the Pacific and southeast Asia in his latest overseas trip, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter bragged about the growing regional interest around the South China Sea in hosting a United States presence, attributing it to the disputes with China in the area.
China’s artificial island building move is expected to get another jolt with the pro-American countries eyeing the initiative as a security threat to the neighbouring countries as China keeps flexing its naval prowess.
It is unjustifiable for China to claim that “China’s sovereign rights [over the South China Sea] were formed in the course of history”, while establishing the so-called nine-dash line, which has no legal basis under worldwide law, in the sea.
“As the ROC enjoys all rights to these islands and their surrounding waters in accordance with global law, the ROC government does not recognize any claim to sovereignty over, or occupation of, these areas by other countries, irrespective of the reasons put forward or methods used for such claim or occupation”, it said.
The tribunal will also examine whether a number of Chinese-occupied reefs and shoals including an artificial island that was skirted by a US warship this week in a freedom of navigation maneuver that riled Beijing do generate, or create a claim to, territorial waters and an economic zone.
Provocative actions by the USA may bring serious tensions between the two militaries and may even result in skirmishes, China’s navy commander Wu Shengli told U.S. Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson on a conference call Thursday, according to the Chinese navy’s microblog.
China responded to the October 29 ruling in a sharply worded statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 30.
By directing one of its naval ships within 12 miles, the recognized limit of a country’s maritime border, of the Fiery Cross Reef, the USA has directly challenged China. Other claimants are Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The navy will closely monitor the situation in and above the sea for goings-on that might jeopardize China’s national security, Liang said.
Going to war may not be on the minds of either the United States or China.
Advertisement
A Chinese foreign ministry statement said that a ruling by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the jurisdiction and admissibility of the South China Sea dispute is null and void and has no binding effect on China.
