TIL Desk/World/Beijing/The Hague-A UN-backed international tribunal today struck down China’s claims of “historical rights” in the strategic South China Sea, prompting Chinese President Xi Jinping to reject its ruling and asserting that Beijing will not accept the verdict “under any circumstances”. Xi’s strong remarks came immediately after The Hague- based tribunal dismissed the core of China’s claims over the 90 per cent South China Sea (SCS), ruling that “there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line'”, which is based on a Chinese map dating back to the 1940s.
“The tribunal also noted that, although Chinese navigators and fishermen, as well as those of other States, had historically made use of the islands in the SCS, there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources,” it said. For decades China, which boycotted the tribunal questioning its legality has been asserting that its emperors have discovered the islands hundreds years ago and have been exercising control over the area throughout the history.
But is claims came into conflict with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan as they hardly have exclusive economic zones (EEZ) provided by UNCLOS which Beijing declined to recognise. While the Philippines filed the case in 2013, Beijing’s claims over the SCS are also contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Indonesia as well.
