Beijing Loses to Philippines in Historic South China Sea Ruling
China’s claims to control in the South China Sea have been ruled illegitimate by an International Tribunal in The Hague.
The ruling, which has long been predicted to favor the Philippines, was issued earlier today and found that as well as having no claim to control over the South China Sea, the Chinese government had also acted irresponsibly. They reported that it had “caused severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated its obligation to preserve and protect fragile ecosystems and the habitat of depleted, threatened, or endangered species.”
China's artificial islands from above
The International Tribunal also ruled that “although Chinese navigators and fishermen, as well as those 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 Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China's claim to the territories falling within the ‘nine-dash line.’”
A chart showing China's nine-dash line territory claim
The news will likely not be greeted positively by Beijing, who, over the past few months, have invested heavily in building up man-made islands in an attempt to solidify their foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed selection of reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
China's artificial islands
Despite Beijing’s efforts, the International Tribunal stated that the islands were not “capable of generating extended maritime zones.” The Court affirmed that it could“declare that certain sea areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China.”
In the days leading up to the ruling, Chinese state media worked overtime, both in English and Chinese, to let the world know that the government doesn’t recognize the authority of the court and that the ruling will have no effect on how they proceed in the South China Sea.
Xinhua news sent out a rather embarrassing tweet 15-minutes before the verdict was announced, reading “Law-busing tribunal issues ill-founded award on #SouthChinaSea arbitration.” The tweet's tag suggested it was sent from Dublin, Ireland, however it was deleted moments after it was sent out.
The state rag sent out a later tweet reading “NULL, VOID, NO BINDING FORCE. China neither accepts nor recognizes award of #SouthChinaSea arbitration.” People’s Daily echoed the sentiment in a Weibo message reading “Don’t accept, don’t participate, don’t recognize, don’t carry out.”
People's Daily Weibo: “Don’t accept, don’t participate, don’t recognize, don’t carry out.”
Guardian journalist Tom Phillips noted in the hours leading up to the ruling, that young Chinese men seemed to be congregating outside the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, seemingly preparing to protest should the ruling go against China.
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