China says ‘has right to set up air defense zone’

Accordingly, I continue to urge ASEAN to implement the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and begin to finally resolve maritime disputes in the region.

Why is the South China Sea important? That zone is not recognised by the U.S. and others.

The lawmaker said that while Taiwan and China’s arguments over territorial claims seem similar, the foundations and reasons are different.

The court ruled that the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea superseded China’s 69-year-old claim to roughly 85 per cent of the disputed territory.

The worldwide court held China accountable for violating the Philippines’ right over its exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf as stipulated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled Tuesday that China has no historic rights to its claimed “nine-dash line” and that it had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the exclusive economic zone.

Meanwhile, two Chinese civilian aircraft landed on Wednesday at two new airports on reefs controlled by China in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, a move the State Department said would increase tensions rather than lower them.

According to a report from the CNBC News, the court’s ruling was a big blow to China and a big win for the Philippines, which sought the intervention of the worldwide tribunal to settle the issue in 2013.

In his first cabinet meeting after being sworn into office on June 30, Duterte said he would not “taunt or flaunt” a favourable ruling and aim for a “soft landing”. Peaceful resolution requires a fully inclusive process. The US, with its “pivot to Asia” policy, can ill-afford to let China control the trade route-it has thus welcomed the ruling and asked for it to be treated as “final and binding”. Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also lay overlapping claims to the some of the areas.

“China is firmly committed to peace and stability in the South China Sea, and to settling the disputes with countries directly involved, through peaceful negotiations based on the recognition of historical facts and in accordance with worldwide law”, he stated.

And China certainly won’t be voluntarily cooperating. But from China’s point of view, accepting the decision would affect its claims to exploit fisheries and other lucrative natural resources.

Malaysia’s sovereignty over these features have been challenged by China in the recent past, most notably by Chinese navy patrols in James Shoal in 2013 and 2014 and more recently, in March 2016, by Chinese Coast Guard ships in the South Luconia Shoals.

“It was ours in the past, is now and will remain so in the future”, wrote one user on microblogging site Weibo.

The Chinese public are angry as well.