Protesters Take Anger at South China Sea Ruling Out on KFC

Up to eight Chinese ships will offer cruises to the South China Sea over the next five years, a state-run newspaper said on Thursday (July 21), as Beijing continues to promote tourism to the disputed waters.

The South China Sea has become a growing source of tension between China and the US ” South China Sea disputes should not be seen as a “strategic competition” between China and the US either”, Cui wrote in the article.

Cops have tried to disperse the crowds, but one protest in Qinhuangdao – a city in China’s Eastern Hebei province – turned violent.

No. Chinese netizens have also been sharing images online of people apparently smashing iPhones in protest over the ruling, or wearing scarves with patriotic slogans on them. “This is not the right way to express patriotism”, wrote Xinhua News Agency.

KFC and Apple “are just closely associated with the US, and you are seeing people picking the closest symbol they can think of to demonstrate against”, he said. The Tribunal concluded that there is no legal basis for China’s stipulations on historic rights to the resources within its “nine-dash line”.[2] It argued that to the extent China may have had any such rights in the past, these were extinguished by the enactment of UNCLOS and its system of allocating maritime zones.

The Chinese Foreign ministry said the tribunal’s decision is “null and void” with “no binding force”. Chinese consumers are also increasingly migrating to more health-conscious local competitors.

In April, it suspended its iBooks and iTunes Movies services, reportedly due to an order by Chinese regulators.

Nothing. However, China has accused the United States of encouraging its ally, the Philippines, to challenge China in the arbitration tribunal.

James Schoff, an Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the recent flight of the nuclear-capable aircraft an “emphatic demonstration” of China’s defiance that was created to sap the Philippines of confidence that its USA ally will uphold its defense treaty obligations. “But China’s push to build and administer artificial islands in those waters has angered officials in the Pentagon, creating potential for naval skirmishes to erupt”.

China has refused to recognise a ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague that invalidated its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

This report contains material from the Associated Press and Reuters.