14 nations say China's South China Sea claims remain illegal

The US, UK and 12 other countries have backed the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling against China. The joint stance sharpens pressure on Beijing and underlines rising alarm over coercive actions at sea.

In Short

• The 2016 Hague tribunal ruling was called final, binding and definitive
• China still rejects the award and defends historic rights across most waters
• The Philippines launched arbitration after Beijing seized a disputed shoal in 2012

The United States, United Kingdom and 12 other Western and Asian countries on Sunday reaffirmed that China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea are illegal under a 2016 arbitration ruling. In a joint statement marking the July 12, 2016 decision, the countries said they rejected “destabilising” actions in the disputed waters that threaten regional peace.

The statement described the ruling by a tribunal set up in The Hague under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as “a significant milestone and is final, legally binding and definitive”. China, which rejected the ruling and continues to assert claims over virtually the entire sea passage, did not immediately respond on Sunday, but has recently said it would never recognise what it called an “illegal, null and void” decision.

China refused to take part in the arbitration, which was initiated by the Philippines in 2013 after a tense standoff in the contested waters a year earlier that ended with Beijing effectively seizing a disputed shoal. The tribunal largely ruled in favour of the Philippines, saying that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, “there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources” in the South China Sea outside its regular territorial areas recognised under the convention. The joint statement said: “We reaffirm the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on ‘historic rights’.”

The convention, widely regarded as the treaty governing the world’s oceans and seas, took effect in 1994 and has been ratified by more than 170 countries and parties, including China and the Philippines. Besides the US and Britain, the countries named in Sunday’s statement were the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia. The countries said: “We reiterate our strong opposition to any destabilising or unilateral actions including by force or coercion that threaten peace and stability in the region.” They also voiced “strong opposition to the use of coast guard, military and maritime militia forces to harass, obstruct, intimidate lawful operations by other states at sea or in the air and in so doing endanger the safety of personnel and fishermen and seriously degrade regional peace and security.” The statement added that “Freedom of navigation and overflight as well as other internationally lawful uses of the sea as reflected in UNCLOS” must be upheld, and that territorial disputes should be resolved peacefully based on the 1982 UN convention.

Beijing has continued to defend its claims to almost the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route and one of Asia’s most active flashpoints. The waters have seen repeated territorial standoffs involving China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. In a recent statement issued through its embassy in Manila, China said: “The award will not alter the historical and factual basis for China’s sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea and their adjacent waters,” and added that the ruling “will not weaken China’s resolve and determination to safeguard its sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

Confrontations in the disputed waters have become more frequent in recent years, particularly involving Chinese, Philippine and Vietnamese forces and fishing fleets. Chinese coast guard ships and support vessels have used powerful water cannons, military-grade lasers and dangerous blocking manoeuvres against Philippine forces and fishermen from rival claimant countries, leading to collisions at sea and high-risk encounters in the air. The United States has repeatedly asked China to comply with the arbitration ruling. The former Biden and current Trump administrations both warned that Washington is obliged to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, vessels or aircraft come under armed attack in the disputed waters.

The joint statement underscored the 2016 arbitration ruling, rejected coercive actions in the South China Sea and called for disputes to be settled peacefully under international law, even as tensions in the strategic waterway continue.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends