An international tribunal in The Hague has ruled against China in a case over disputed territory in the South China Sea, potentially ratcheting up tensions over strategic control of one of the world's key maritime regions.
China has said it will not recognise the finding of the court, but it puts Beijing in a difficult position, as it does not want to be seen as a violator of international law.
In response to the finding, the Communist Party organ People’s Daily posted a message on the Weibo social network: “Don’t accept, don’t participate, don’t recognise, don’t carry out”.
Manila took its complaints over China’s claims to large parts of the South China Sea to The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013, seeking to affirm its right to areas within 200 nautical miles of its coastline.
China has claimed all the area within the ‘nine-dash line’, a U-shaped area that extends hundreds of kilometres to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and includes the Spratly islands, the Paracels and remote sandbars such as the Macclesfield Bank, the Scarborough Shoal and the Pratas Islands. The ‘nine-dash line’ was drawn up after Japan was defeated in World War Two.
The finding from the tribunal denies this claim.
“The tribunal … noted that although Chinese navigators and fishermen, as well as those of other states, had historically made use of the islands in the South China Sea, there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources,” the Permanent Court of Arbitration said in a statement.
“The tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line’.”
A brief statement on the Xinhua official news agency said: “The tribunal handling the South China Sea arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine government issued its final award on Tuesday, amid a global chorus that as the panel has no jurisdiction, its decision is naturally null and void.”
The 3.5-million square kilometre South China Sea offers access to the entire Southeast Asian region and upwards of €3.5 trillion worth of trade passes through it every year. It is also rich in oil and gas reserves, as well as home to abundant fishing grounds.
As well as the Philippines, China's claims have brought into conflict with Brunei, Malaysia, self-ruled Taiwan and Vietnam, all of whom dispute China's sovereignty of various island chains and nearby waters in the South China Sea.
China has little international support for its claims in the area. The foreign ministry said that those backing the Chinese position include Cambodia, Angola, Liberia, Madagascar, Senegal and Papua New Guinea.
