Beijing debunks South China Sea statement

Beijing has blasted a joint statement released by 14 countries regarding the "2016 South China Sea arbitration award", urging those countries to "stop stirring up trouble over the South China Sea issue" and "cease undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea".

"China urges the relevant countries to earnestly respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The United States, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement earlier on Sunday.

The 14-nation joint statement claimed that the "award" rendered 10 years ago by the "arbitral tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration" is "a significant milestone", and that "there is no legal basis for China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea".

In response, the Foreign Ministry noted that, "If the 'award' were to be taken as a standard, many countries' islands and reefs would be denied the basis for claiming maritime rights and interests.

"May we ask, have those countries supporting the 'award' voluntarily waived the maritime rights and interests deriving from their relevant islands and reefs?" the ministry added in its own statement dismissing the 14-nation claims.

The ministry reiterated that China does not accept or recognize the "award", and it opposes and does not accept any claim or action based on it.

"Land territorial issues are not subject to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea", and the "award" is nothing but a worthless piece of paper that is illegal, null and void, the ministry said.

The US and other countries have been persistently reinforcing their military presence in the South China Sea, throwing their weight around and fanning the flames, it warned. "These acts of militarization and coercion constitute the primary challenge to the current situation in the South China Sea," the ministry said.

For the past 10 years, the "award" has "become a tool for the Philippines to expand its territorial and maritime claims, exacerbated tensions in the region and provided a pretext for external forces to intervene and destabilize the South China Sea", the ministry noted.

The continued playing up of the illegal "award" by certain countries "goes against the aspirations of countries and people in the region for development and prosperity", the ministry said, adding that "such attempts are doomed to fail".

Wu Shicun, chairman of the Hua­yang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, said that the "award" was "a political farce" executed by the then Philippine administration, manipulated by the US and assisted by Japan in an attempt to whitewash Manila's illegal claims and actions.

Also on Sunday, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made a separate statement blatantly endorsing the "award", attacking China's lawful claims and mischaracterizing Japan as a "legitimate stakeholder who uses the South China Sea".

"China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this," a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a written response.

The spokesperson noted Japan's wartime atrocities against China and its people, as well as its illegal occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and said that now Japan is again attempting to meddle in the South China Sea.

"This reminds people of Japan's history of aggression and expansion, and heightens their vigilance against Japan's neo-militarist agenda," the spokesperson said.

According to the "award" supported by Japan, Taiping Dao in the Nansha Islands — an area that spans 500,000 square meters and has fresh water, vegetables, fruits and poultry to sustain human habitation — is not even considered an island and therefore cannot generate entitlement to an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, the spokesperson said.

"By that 'standard', many of Japan's islands and reefs would likewise have no basis for claiming maritime rights and interests," the spokesperson added. The spokesperson questioned Japan's claim to the EEZ and continental shelf around Okinotori, which is nothing more than two tiny rocks of less than 10 square meters in the Pacific.

The head of the ministry's Department of Asian Affairs on Sunday summoned the chief minister of the embassy of Japan in China to lodge a stern representation and strong protest.

On Sunday, the Chinese Mission to the European Union also blasted a separate statement issued by the EU about the "award", which called for securing freedom of navigation and overflight.

A spokesperson for the Chinese mission said that the EU is not a stakeholder in the South China Sea issue, and the EU's statement "disregards the historical context and objective facts of the South China Sea issue, runs counter to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and is detrimental to the region's peace and stability".