The farce of shooting oneself in the foot

The ruling of the arbitral tribunal in the Philippines' case against China in the South China Sea dispute on Tuesday ignores facts, violates international law and international relations norms, and infringes on China's sovereignty and maritime rights.

The Chinese government and people do not recognize or accept the ruling. Chinese people have lived and worked in the South China Sea for generations, and became owners of the islands in that sea a long time ago. And China has indisputable sovereignty over these islands and their adjacent waters.

Yet some countries and powers have invaded these islands and the sea in the past 100 years. Despite this, China has never swayed from its resolve to defend its sovereignty and maritime rights, for which generations of Chinese people have made great sacrifices.