Hague rejects Beijing’s claim on S. China Sea
Beijing dismisses ruling, pledges to defend its sovereignty and maritime interests
Amsterdam/ Beijing, July 12: In a significant ruling on Tuesday that has infuriated a defiant Beijing, an international tribunal at The Hague rejected China’s claim that it has historic rights over most of the South China Sea, saying that it has breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines with its actions there, which include construction of artificial islands.
The tribunal in its ruling in the landmark case, brought by the Philippines, also said that China had violated international law by causing “irreparable harm” to the marine environment, endangering Philippine ships and interfering with Philippine fishing and oil exploration.
The ruling, covering some of the world’s most promising oil and gas fields and vital fishing grounds, reflects the shifting balance of power in the 3.5 million sq km sea, where China has been expanding its presence by building artificial islands and dispatching patrol boats that keep Philippine fishing vessels away. The panel, finding for the Philippines on a number of issues, said there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within its so- called nine- dash line, which covers much of the South China Sea.
“It’s an overwhelming victory. We won on every significant point,” the Philippines’ chief counsel in the case, Paul S. Reichler, said. Spreading | |
fast on social media in the Philippines was the use of the term “Chexit” - the public’s desire for Chinese vessels to leave the waters.
China however, which has boycotted the hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, vowed again to ignore the ruling and said its armed forces would defend its sovereignty and maritime interests.
An arbitration court ruled on Tuesday that China has no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea and has breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights with its actions, infuriating Beijing which dismissed the case as a farce.
A defiant China, which boycotted the hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, vowed again to ignore the ruling and said its armed forces would defend its sovereignty and maritime interests. China’s Xinhua news agency said shortly before the ruling was announced that a Chinese civilian aircraft had successfully tested two new airports in the disputed Spratly Islands. And China’s defence ministry said a new guided missile destroyer was formally commissioned at a naval base on the southern island province of Hainan, which has responsibility for the South China Sea.
The panel said there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within its so- called ninedash line, which covers almost 90 per cent of the South China Sea. It said China had interfered with traditional Philippines fishing rights at Scarborough Shoal and had breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights by exploring for oil and gas near the Reed Bank. None of
China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea shall under no circumstances be affected by those awards
— China’s reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200- mile exclusive economic zone, it added.
China’s foreign ministry rejected the ruling, saying its people had more than 2,000 years of history in the South China Sea, that its islands did have exclusive economic zones and that it had announced to the world its “dotted line” map in 1948.
“China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea shall under no circumstances be affected by those awards,” it said. However, the ministry also repeated that China respected and upheld the freedom of navigation and overflight and that China was ready to keep resolving the disputes peacefully through talks with states directly concerned. Before the ruling, China’s defence ministry said its armed forces would “firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and maritime interests and rights, firmly uphold regional peace and stability, and deal with all kinds of threats and challenges”