. Military Space News .
SUPERPOWERS
Hague court to rule July 12 in South China Sea case
By Jo Biddle and Jan Hennop
The Hague (AFP) June 29, 2016


Beijing to reject Hague ruling on South China Sea case
Beijing (AFP) June 30, 2016 - Beijing will reject any ruling by an international tribunal in a contentious case brought by the Philippines over the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said, as tensions mount over the disputed waters.

The United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said Wednesday it will rule on July 12 in a closely watched case challenging China's claims to much of the strategic waterway.

Beijing has consistently rejected the tribunal's right to hear the case and has taken no part in the proceedings, mounting a diplomatic and propaganda drive to try to undermine its authority.

"With regard to territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes, China does not accept any means of third party dispute settlement or any solution imposed on China," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement on its website.

The tribunal was "established on the basis of illegal conduct and claims of the Philippines" and "has no jurisdiction over the relevant matters", he said.

At a regular briefing on Thursday he added that by bringing the case to the arbitration court, the Philippines "disregards China's choice to resolving disputes in ways of its own choosing".

The Philippines insisted both it and China were required to follow the tribunal's ruling.

"Despite its non-appearance, China is and remains a party to the arbitration and is bound under international law by an award rendered by the tribunal," Manila's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Philippines believes that the rule of law prescribes a just and peaceful means of resolving differences, which is why the Philippines will fully respect the tribunal's award."

Manila lodged the suit against Beijing in early 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues to settle the dispute.

Spanning more than three years, two hearings and nearly 4,000 pages of evidence, the arbitration case in The Hague is extremely complex.

China claims most of the sea, even waters approaching neighbouring countries, based on a vaguely defined "nine-dash" Chinese map dating back to the 1940s.

In recent years Beijing has rapidly built up reefs and outcrops into artificial islands with facilities capable of military use.

As well as the Philippines, several other littoral states have competing claims, and the dispute has also embroiled the United States, which has defence treaties with several allies in the region.

"I hereby once again emphasise that the Arbitral Tribunal has no jurisdiction over the case and the relevant subject matter, and that it should not have heard the case," Hong said in the statement, released late Wednesday.

A little-known international tribunal will early next month step into a bitter dispute over the South China Sea, handing down a ruling which risks further inflaming tensions between Southeast Asian nations and China.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) -- the world's oldest international tribunal for the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations -- said Wednesday it will rule on July 12 in the highly-watched case brought by the Philippines challenging China's claims to much of the strategic waterway.

Manila lodged the suit against Beijing in early 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues to settle the dispute.

But Beijing, angered by Manila's move, has refused to participate in any hearings and said it will not comply with any decisions by the tribunal based in The Hague.

The court, which was set up in 1899, said in a statement Wednesday that it had informed the parties it would issue its ruling at about 11 am (0900 GMT) on July 12.

The written decision will first be emailed to the parties, and then released to the press and uploaded onto the PCA's website.

Tensions in the South China Sea have also alarmed other nations, notably the United States which has key defence treaties with many allies in the region, and in a show of strength has sent warships close to some of the Chinese claimed reefs.

Spanning more than three years, two hearings and nearly 4,000 pages of evidence, the arbitration case in The Hague is extremely complex, and has already drawn anger in Beijing.

In essence, the world economic and military power claims most of the sea, even waters approaching neighbouring countries, based on a vaguely defined "nine-dash" Chinese map dating back to the 1940s.

The Philippines disputes this and -- while it has stressed that it is not asking the court to rule on sovereignty or to delimit any boundaries -- it has asked the tribunal to rule on other key points.

- 'No historic' claim

Basing its arguments on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Manila contends that the "nine-dash" line has no basis under international law and Beijing has no "historic" claim to the ocean.

Manila has further argued that Beijing violated the UN convention by preventing it from exercising its fishing and exploration rights and that Chinese fishing boats have irreversibly damaged coral reefs.

The Philippine government further says that some of the "islands" that Beijing claims as Chinese territory are rocks and not entitled to an exclusive economic zone.

"China will be obliged under international law to comply with the decision, and with all its obligations under the law of the sea as clarified by the arbitral tribunal. But being bound by the decision says nothing about means of enforcing it," Joris Larik, a senior researcher with the think-tank The Hague Institute for Global Justice, told AFP.

He said any ruling "in favour of the Philippines on any of the points it raises would be a blow to China's expansive nine dash line claims."

But Larik acknowledged that "enforcement is the Achilles Heel of public international law. The PCA is an extreme example of that."

- Artificial islands -

Tensions have been growing for years in the South China Sea, as Beijing has sought to expand its presence in what is a main maritime link between the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Its shipping lanes connect East Asia with Europe and the Middle East, and over $5 trillion (4.5 trillion euros) in ship-borne trade passes through the sea annually.

Major unexploited oil and gas deposits are also believed to lie under the seabed.

China has conducted massive dredging and artificial island-building activities in the Spratlys, dwarfing the scale of reclamation work of other claimants.

In April, the United States launched joint South China Sea patrols with its key ally Manila and has consistently called for a diplomatic solution to the standoff.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the strategic waterway.

And last week Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the remote Indonesian Natuna islands on a warship in an apparent show of force after clashes with Chinese vessels.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
SUPERPOWERS
Turkey allows German minister visit after air base row
Ankara (AFP) June 27, 2016
Turkey said Monday it would allow Germany's defence minister to visit an air base in the south of the country after sparking a row by barring a German delegation from making the trip. Ursula von der Leyen had said Sunday she would personally visit the Incirlik base, used to launch coalition raids against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria, after Turkey blocked other German politicians fro ... read more


SUPERPOWERS
Washington hopes to wrap up anti-missile deal with SKorea

Raytheon to conduct Patriot missile system diagnostics and repair

NKorea test shows need for expanded missile defense: Pentagon chief

Ballistic missile intercepted in Yemen: coalition

SUPERPOWERS
Russia to receive six more S-400 Triumf systems

Varunastra missile handed over to Indian navy

Missiles to be tested at RIMPAC exercise

Raytheon contracted for AMRAAM platform integration

SUPERPOWERS
Insitu gets Coast Guard drone contract

Lockheed's Q-53 shows drone tracking capability

Thales gets Watchkeeper support contract

MQ-4C Triton UAS demos new capabilities

SUPERPOWERS
MUOS-5 secure communications satellite responding to ground control

How to Improve Enterprise Ground Services for Space

Testing Confirms Intelsat EpicNG Delivers a Whole New Ballgame

MUOS-5 Secure Communications Satellite to launch June 24

SUPERPOWERS
Exide Technologies gets $30.7 million DOD grant

Implant Sciences gets Canadian explosives detection contract

Hesco achieves body armor certification

U.S. Marines in Norway learn how to drift tanks on snow

SUPERPOWERS
Guns, not roses: Conflicts fire up Bulgaria arms trade

CAE gets $111 million in UAE defense contracts

Senators look to block U.S. sale of bombs to Saudis for bombing of Yemen

US Navy admiral admits he lied in massive bribery scandal

SUPERPOWERS
Ukraine launches joint military drills with NATO

US destroyer came 'dangerously close' to Russian ship: Moscow

Move for independence on the table for Scotland

NATO appoints first woman as deputy head

SUPERPOWERS
DNA shaping up to be ideal framework for rationally designed nanostructures

New 'ukidama' nanoparticle structure revealed

Shaping atomically thin materials in suspended structures

Nanoparticles and bioremediation can decontaminate polluted soils









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.