The Foreign Ministry on Friday dismissed a ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal on the jurisdiction and admissibility of the South China Sea issue, saying it is null and void.
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Harris is due in China on Monday for a three-day trip including meetings with senior Chinese military leaders, US Pacific Command said, adding that “candidly addressing and managing disagreements” was among the objectives.
“We are talking about a final judgment being issued right in the middle of 2016, perhaps June of 2016, but I am only speculating at this point”, he said.
“It’s a signal China sent to the us that it is serious about its claims”.
China has boycotted the proceedings and rejects the court’s authority in the case.
While CUES offers guidelines for encounters between ships, the broader parameters are set by the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) – another area of Sino-U.S. dispute.
The tribunal said Thursday it is not trying to determine ownership and borders, but is instead looking at the disputed features that China is developing in the sea.
“We would urge the USA not to continue down the wrong path. But if the USA side does continue, we will take all necessary measures according to the need”, Yang said.
Over the last few years, China has started projects to reclaim land and also building projects, in the reefs.
Muscle flexing by the American and Chinese navies in the South China Sea has escalated tensions to unprecedented levels.
The magistrate said China’s reclamation can not be justified under the UNCLOS because its actions under Article 87 about Freedom of the high seas “only applies to global seas beyond EEZs (exclusive economic zones)”.
Vice President M Hamid Ansari on Sunday said India is not engaged in the business of counter-balancing the influence of any country, let alone China in the South China Sea, which is under dispute.
“We’ll just keep going”.
While the U.S. Navy is expected to keep its technological edge in Asia for decades, China’s potential trump card is sheer weight of numbers, with dozens of naval and coastguard vessels routinely deployed in the South China Sea, security experts say.
China has refused to participate in the arbitration and stressed it has historic rights over the sea, which is believed to be rich in marine and mineral resources. Nations bordering the South China Sea have made numerous overlapping territorial claims, primarily because of oil and gas deposits.
Meanwhile, Chinese Navy chief Admiral Wu Shengli has said that he is “deeply concerned” about Americ-an warship’s entry into the South China Sea, two days after a United States guided missile destroyer patrolled the disputed area.
China was responding to a “Freedom of Navigation” patrol by a U.S. Navy Destroyer within a 12-mile strip off a man-made island China built in the Spratly Island Chains. After leaving China, the two Australian frigates will head south through the South China Sea to Malaysia.
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The Philippine government welcomed the court decision.
