Discussing the impending ruling by an global court over China’s claims to most of the South China Sea, Wang reminded Ban that the Philippines, which initiated the case, had rejected bilateral dialogue.
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China’s foreign minister has reiterated in a phone conversation with United States Secretary of State John Kerry that Beijing will not recognize an upcoming ruling by an worldwide court on the disputed South China Sea.
China said that by not participating in and not accepting the so-called arbitration, it is in fact upholding worldwide laws and rules and safeguarding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea seriously and its integrity. According to a UPI news agency report, Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) jets were ordered into action when Chinese military planes appeared over the East China Sea.
Ex-foreign affairs official Dai Bingguo made it clear on Tuesday Beijing will reject The Hague’s jurisdiction, and others have lobbied individual countries like Belarus and Pakistan, CNBC reported.
China’s declaration of a “no sail” zone in the South China Sea is technically a violation of maritime law, but not a new move from Beijing, maritime experts and US officials told USNI News on Thursday.
Earlier on Tuesday, China said it is ready to confront the United States if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force, the Chinese Global Times newspaper reported, adding that Beijing should accelerate developing its strategic deterrence capabilities to contain Washington’s forces.
He said that “bilateral and friendly dialogue and consultation is the only right and viable way ” to resolve the dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea territory.
“As China continues along the path of transformation and reform, I encourage China’s leaders to create the space needed for the civil society to play its crucial role”, Ban said, as Wang looked down at his lectern or stared ahead, expressionless.
Years earlier, former Philippine president Benigno Aquino III also said joint exploration is possible as long as Philippine laws prevail.
Faced with further escalation from Manila, the paper said China “will fight back”.
The ruling is widely expected to go against China, whose claims in the disputed waters overlap with those of Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The ruling was likely to result in “increasing threats” to China, which “has to be prepared for all eventualities”, it said, adding: “This is not being alarmist, it is being realistic”. “China reacts intensely against any country or any organization, whether it be the United Nations or an worldwide court, that’s trying to impinge on what it sees as its backyard”.
Manila lodged its suit against Beijing in 2013, challenging China’s claims to much of the strategic waterway and saying it was in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), to which both countries are signatories.
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USA naval officials said Chinese military ships and some fishing vessels often track the activity of U.S. ships in the area, but there has been no reaction to the destroyers’ operations.
