The 9-dash line of China is contrary to UNCLOS and has no basis in law.
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China doesn’t accept nor acknowledge the ruling, Xinhua said.
The panel said it had no jurisdiction over the military standoff at Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese and Philippine military and law enforcement vessels are locked in confrontation.
Earlier, China said it will ignore a ruling expected on Tuesday by an arbitration court in The Hague in a case in which the Philippines is challenging Beijing’s right to exploit resources across the South China Sea.
It later tweeted in capital letters: “NULL, VOID, NO BINDING FORCE”. “It’s really devastating for China”, said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. “It’s quite serious for China and it doesn’t open up a lot of opportunities for face saving-ways out”.
China’s defense ministry said its troops would “unswervingly safeguard state sovereignty, security, maritime rights and interests”, according to state broadcaster CCTV. It continued that the country “opposes and will never accept” claims or actions based on the ruling.
China has engaged in the construction of artificial islands, installations, and structures at Mischief Reef without the authorization of the Philippines.
Taiwanese Premier Lin Chuan said the PCA ruling is not legally binding on Taipei, broadcaster Focus Taiwan reports. It declares large areas of the sea to be neutral global waters. The United States has over the past year sought to uphold worldwide law and freedom of navigation in one of the world’s busiest waterways by dispatching navy ships to sail through waters that Beijing has tried to fence off.
The “nine-dash line” is China’s purported historical boundary that covers about 85 percent of the South China Sea, including 80 percent of the Philippines’ EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.
He said: “The Philippines reiterates its abiding commitment to efforts of pursuing the peaceful resolution and management of disputes with the view of promoting and enhancing peace and stability in the region”.
The tribunal also found that none of the sea features claimed by China were capable of generating what’s called an exclusive economic zone – which gives a country maritime rights to resources such as fish and oil and gas within 200 nautical miles of that land mass.
Because China had no rights to the area as an exclusive economic zone, the tribunal found that some of its activities in the region were in breach of the Philippines’ sovereign rights.
There are several measures China could take in the short term if it chooses to up the ante, including building on the disputed Scarborough Shoal reef, which is closer to Manila than its other outposts.
A pre-emptive PR campaign has been ramping up for weeks, insisting that China is in the right and the case is an attack on its sovereignty.
The ruling manifests the faithful compliance by the Philippine Government to the Philippine Constitution, which mandates that the “State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens”.
Perfecto Yasay, Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Secretary welcomed the ruling but also said that those concerned should “exercise restraint and sobriety”. The Philippines lodges a protest through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
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The post followed online rumours that reservists in central Chinese provinces have been called up for an unspecified mission from July 10-22.
