Hague tribunal on South China Sea unlawful from beginning: Beijing
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong says a South China Sea arbitration case ruling is unlawful and an attempt to deny Beijing’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.
On Tuesday, a tribunal in The Hague ruled against Beijing’s claims to islands in the South China Sea, and sided with the Philippines that had filed the complaint.
"Recently, the arbitral tribunal on the South China Sea arbitration case brought up by the Philippines issued the so-called 'final award', trying to deny China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” said Liu at the opening ceremony of the fifth World Peace Forum on Saturday at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Sunday.
The court ruled that China’s expansive claim to sovereignty over the waters or its resources had no legal basis and accused Beijing of violating the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights.
“The arbitral tribunal established at the unilateral request of the [Philippine President Benigno] Aquino III government lacked legitimacy and operated in an unlawful way from the beginning till the end,” she added.
“It willfully expanded, overstepped and abused its authority, and its so-called award is thus illegal and invalid,” she added.
Liu further stressed that Beijing does not accept nor participates in the arbitration case. China has on multiple occasions rejected the judgment, stressing that its “territorial sovereignty and marine rights” in the seas would not be affected by the ruling.
Beijing claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The contested waters are believed to be rich in oil and gas.
The dispute has at times drawn in trans-regional countries, particularly the US.
Beijing accuses Washington of meddling in regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.
The US, in turn, accuses China of carrying out what it calls a land reclamation program in the South China Sea by building artificial islands in the disputed areas.
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