China is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but that won't stop it from ignoring this ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague:
An international tribunal in The Hague delivered a sweeping rebuke on Tuesday of China's behavior in the South China Sea, including the construction of artificial islands, and found that its expansive claim to sovereignty over the waters had no legal basis.
The tribunal also said that Beijing had violated international law by causing "severe harm to the coral reef environment" and by failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from harvesting endangered sea turtles and other species "on a substantial scale."
The landmark case, brought by the Philippines, was seen as an important crossroads in China's rise as a global power. It is the first time the Chinese government has been summoned before the international justice system, and the decision against it could provide leverage to other neighboring countries that have their own disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.
"It's an overwhelming victory. We won on every significant point," said the Philippines' chief counsel in the case, Paul S. Reichler. "This is a remarkable victory for the Philippines."
But while the decision is legally binding, there is no mechanism for enforcing it, and China, which refused to participate in the tribunal's proceedings, reiterated on Tuesday that it would not abide by it. "The award is invalid and has no binding force," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "China does not accept or recognize it."
Now the U.S. can feel properly justified as it continues to do nothing. This news is also reported at Time , Reuters, The Guardian , and The Washington Post . Full response at Xinhua.
Previously: China Builds Artificial Islands in South China Sea
U.S. Spy Plane Deploys to Singapore Amid South China Sea Tensions
China Places Surface-to-Air Missile Launchers on Disputed Island
U.S. Admiral Warns of New Activity Near Reef Seized by China
The West Protests as the Chinese Military Continues to Operate in the South China Sea
Related Stories
Matthew Fisher reports that to support part of its claim to about 85 per cent of the South China Sea, Beijing is building artificial islands on tiny outcroppings, atolls and reefs in hotly disputed waters in the Spratly Archipelago.
Tons of sand, rocks, coral cuttings, and concrete are transforming miniscule Chinese-occupied outcroppings into sizable islands with harbors, large multi-story buildings, airstrips, and other government facilities. Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet, dubbed Beijing’s island-building project in the South China Sea “a great wall of sand" and says China has created “over four square kilometers of artificial land mass,” adding there were serious questions about Beijing’s intentions. The scale of China's construction in the Spratly Islands is clear in new satellite images. "What's really stunning in these images, every time you see a new set of images come out, is just the speed and scale at which this work is occurring," says Mira Rapp-Hooper.
A spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry insists the islands are being built to give ships a haven in the typhoon heavy region. “We are building shelters, aids for navigation, search and rescue as well as marine meteorological forecasting services, fishery services and other administrative services” for both China and its neighbors, the spokeswoman said, according to Reuters, though no one was buying that explanation.
A Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft is being deployed to Singapore amid growing tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea:
The United States has deployed a P-8 Poseidon spy plane to Singapore for the first time. It is the latest in a series of US military actions seen as a response to China's increasingly assertive claims over territory in the South China Sea.
The US says it will also base a military reconnaissance plane at Singapore's Paya Lebar air base. US P-8s already operate from Japan and the Philippines, and surveillance flights have taken off from Malaysia. The P-8 was deployed on Monday, and will remain in Singapore until 14 December.
In addition to the P-8 deployment, the US says it will operate a military plane, either a P-8 Poseidon or a P-3 Orion, from Singapore for the foreseeable future, rotating planes on a quarterly basis. The US-Singapore agreement, announced after a meeting in Washington on Monday between US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, also covers co-operation on counter-terrorism, fighting piracy, and disaster relief.
Previously: China's Island Factory
China Builds Artificial Islands in South China Sea
Chinese Weaponry Spotted on Artificial Islands
China has upped the ante by placing missile launchers on Woody Island in the South China Sea:
China has placed surface-to-air missile equipment on one of the disputed islands in the South China Sea, newly published satellite images appear to show.
Tensions in the region could rise after two batteries of eight missile launchers and a radar system were deployed to Woody Island in the past week, Fox News reported, citing images taken by the private company ImageSat International. An image dated 14 February showed the presence of the equipment, whereas the same area looked to be empty in an image dated 3 February.
Fox News cited a US official official as saying the images appeared to show the HQ-9 air defence system, which had a range of about 125 miles (200km) and could therefore threaten any nearby planes. Reuters news agency also reported that it had received confirmation of 'an apparent deployment' by China.
[...] A US navy destroyer sailed close to the disputed Paracel Island chain, which includes Woody Island, in a "freedom of navigation" exercise late last month. China, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims in the area and the US has objected to any "militarising" of the islands. China branded that action as "highly dangerous and irresponsible" and accused the US of being "the biggest cause of militarisation in the South China Sea".
Previously:
Chinese Weaponry Spotted on Artificial Islands
U.S. Spy Plane Deploys to Singapore Amid South China Sea Tensions
A U.S. Admiral is warning of new activity near another disputed island in the South China Sea:
The United States has seen Chinese activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy chief said on Thursday.
The head of U.S. naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could be a trigger for Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in the busy trade route. Richardson told Reuters the United States was weighing responses to such a move. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Richardson said the U.S. military had seen Chinese activity around Scarborough Shoal in the northern part of the Spratly archipelago, about 125 miles (200 km) west of the Philippine base of Subic Bay. "I think we see some surface ship activity and those sorts of things, survey type of activity, going on. That's an area of concern ... a next possible area of reclamation," he said. Richardson said it was unclear if the activity near the reef, which China seized in 2012, was related to the pending arbitration decision.
Asked about Richardson's statement, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was hypocritical for the United States to criticize China for militarizing the region when it carries out its own naval patrols there. "This is really laughable and preposterous," he said. [...] Richardson said he was struck by how China's increasing militarization of the South China Sea had increased the willingness of other countries in the region to work together.
China recently opened up a tsunami alert center, which has also been linked to its claims of jurisdiction in the disputed waters. Japan's ruling party has urged the Prime Minister to seek international arbitration over Chinese drilling activities.
The U.S. military has spoken out against the landing of a Chinese military aircraft on a manmade island in the South China Sea. According to the Chinese government, a Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft landed to evacuate three seriously ill workers who would have otherwise required a time-consuming trip at sea:
China's apparent landing of a military jet on a man-made island in the disputed waters of the South China Sea drew protest from the United States military Monday. "We're aware that a Chinese military aircraft landed at Fiery Cross Reef on Sunday in what China described as a humanitarian operation to evacuate three ill workers," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told CNN in a statement. "It is unclear why the Chinese used a military aircraft, as opposed to a civilian one."
The United States, along with the Philippines have voiced continued concern over China's establishment of man-made islands in portions of the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest sea lanes for commerce, in areas claimed by the Philippines and thousands of miles from the Chinese mainland. There has been particular apprehension over Fiery Cross Reef -- one of China's man-made islands in the Spratly Island chain -- after the Chinese constructed a runway long enough to accommodate large military aircraft.
This was reportedly the first time that China has publicly admitted landing a military aircraft on the Fiery Cross Reef.
Britain has called on China to respect the outcome of an upcoming ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. However, the court has no enforcement powers.
Amid continuing tensions in the South China Sea, the People's Liberation Army Navy is showing off its new electronic reconnaissance ship:
China's Navy has launched a new electronic reconnaissance ship, state media said on Thursday, the latest addition to an expanding fleet and as Beijing's new assertiveness to territorial claims in the South China Sea fuels tensions. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) now operates six electronic reconnaissance vessels, the official English-language China Daily newspaper said, noting that the PLA "has never made public so many details about its intelligence collection ships".
Last year, the PLA Navy commissioned 18 ships, including missile destroyers, corvettes and guided missile frigates, the paper said. China has also said it is building a second aircraft carrier. China's only carrier is the second-hand, Soviet-built Liaoning, which this week unsettled neighbors with drills in the disputed South China Sea.
Previously: China's South China Sea Claims Rejected By "Binding" but Unenforceable Tribunal Ruling
Piracy on the Open Sea?
China's devious move under cover of virus
As outbreaks debilitate the US navy, there are fears China may be using the coronavirus pandemic as cover for asserting control over the South China Sea.
A Vietnamese fishing boat has been rammed and sunk. Military aircraft have landed at its artificial-island fortresses. And large-scale naval exercises has let everyone know China's navy is still pushing the boundaries, hard.
Meanwhile, the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group has retreated from the contested waterway in an unscheduled return to Guam – with hundreds of cases of COVID-19 on board.
China's Peoples Liberation Army knows this presents an opportunity.
"The outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly lowered the US Navy's warship deployment capability in the Asia-Pacific region," an article on its official website declares.
The website insists not a single one of its soldiers, sailors or pilots had contracted COVID-19. Instead, the crisis had served to strengthen the combat readiness and resolve of the Chinese military.
That has international affairs analysts worried that even a short-term withdrawal of US and international from the East and South China Seas could give Beijing the opportunity it has been waiting for.
"I think China is exploiting the US Navy's coronavirus challenges to improve its position in the South China Sea by giving the appearance it can and will operate there at will while the US is hamstrung," former Pacific Command Joint Intelligence Centre director Carl Schuster told CNN.
Previously:
(2020-01-09) China Initiates Conflict with Indonesia in the South China Sea
(2019-12-21) Malaysian Top Envoy: China's 'Nine-Dash Line' Claim 'Ridiculous'
(2019-11-22) US Warships Sail in Disputed South China Sea Amid Tensions
(2019-05-14) China Builds New Type 002 Mega Carrier as the Age of Sea Power Wanes
(2018-05-13) China Begins Sea Trials for its First Domestically Developed Aircraft Carrier
(2017-12-24) World's Largest Amphibious Plane in Production Takes Flight in China
(2017-05-25) US Warship Challenges China's Claims in South China Sea
(2017-04-26) China Launches Aircraft Carrier
(2017-03-14) Japan to Send its Biggest Warship to the South China Sea
(2017-01-13) Chinese State Media Boasts About its New Electronic Reconnaissance Ship
(2016-07-14) China's South China Sea Claims Rejected By "Binding" but Unenforceable Tribunal Ruling
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @12:30AM
"Now the U.S. can feel properly justified as it continues to do nothing."
Why should they? Is the U.S. supposed to police the entire Earths problems? If the answer is yes, then start dropping nukes on China, N. Korea, and the desert countries of the mid east and get it over with.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @12:41AM
The United Nations is supposed to police the world to prevent war, but the UN is an ineffective joke, and global trade is preventing global war. Globalization also reduces wages but at least the poor miserable people can be poor in peace.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Friday July 15 2016, @12:34AM
We as a consumer population need to consider the fact that we have the greatest power to rebuke China. All we have to do is STOP buying stuff made in China. Despite the UN's ruling China will continue to do what they want powered in great part by the $'s reaped from US purchases of manufactured goods exported by China to a bottomless market. Do without something. or pay a few extra cents for something manufactured elsewhere.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @12:50AM
Ha ha ha, you're so funny! Good luck finding a way to get online without using Chinese products.
The thing I'm typing on right now was Made In China, and so was the networking gear transmitting this comment, and chances are really good that every piece of equipment between you and me was also Made In China.
Have fun doing without.
Bye. Ha ha ha ha!
(Score: 2, Funny) by tekk on Friday July 15 2016, @01:16AM
Oh please.
There's got to be at least one ancient piece of kit in the way that was made in Japan.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @01:29AM
Parts of things, maybe. I have a rechargeable battery made in Japan. The device it powers was made in China.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 15 2016, @01:23AM
If it were JUST electronics, that would be bad enough. It gets more and more difficult to shop for anything not made in China. Visit your hardware store. Do some research on your automobile, no matter where it was made. Browse the toy section of your local chain store.
The west is all gung-ho on imaginary property, and China is busily taking over any actual property (as opposed to real property aka real estate, which China has no qualms about purchasing).
We have largely abandoned industry, and China is moving to take industry over. So, we now depend on China, a few underdeveloped nations, and a few nations that have developed post-World War 2.
Damn, we are stupid.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday July 15 2016, @01:35AM
Before quarterly results became the only measuring stick of success, most of what people call "outsourcing" would have landed them in front of a firing squad for treason, or at minima on a rail covered in tar and feathers, courtesy of common-sense actual patriots.
"Have all our secret sauce, benevolent foreign entity, may you help us get a few quarters of higher profits as your trainers get laid off"
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Friday July 15 2016, @02:05AM
You can get something's that are South Korean, but you are correct, even in those I'd bet there were Chinese parts. So focus on other than electronics. Even if we all just switched 2 or 3 choices in products it would add up rapidly. But to just give up without making an effort of some sort is a total cop out, you might as well just learn Han Chinese and roll over.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 5, Informative) by linuxrocks123 on Friday July 15 2016, @08:18AM
The dominant dialect of the spoken Chinese language in mainland China is called Mandarin. The dominant ethnic group in China are the Han.
There are countless dialects of spoken Chinese, many of which are mutually unintelligible with each other and should really be considered different languages altogether. Most of these function only as local slang, however, and almost all Chinese know how to speak Mandarin, sometimes with a local accent, so they can communicate with people from other regions.
An important exception to this is Hong Kong: the native dialect of Hong Kong is Cantonese, and most Hong Kong residents do not know Mandarin. Cantonese and Mandarin are mutually unintelligible to the point such that if both parties know at least rudimentary English, as most Hong Kong residents and most younger Mainland residents do, I have observed that they will use English to speak to each other rather than try to understand each others' different "dialects".
None of this applies to written Chinese: the reason written Chinese is a pictographic language is because some emperor in the distant passed realized people in his empire were all speaking different languages and he wanted a form of written communication that was divorced from any single dialect so it could serve as a unifying force.
You may now go back to your regularly scheduled two minutes of hate.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday July 15 2016, @02:01PM
Okay, so which one should i learn to prepare for my overlords? Only slightly joking : )
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Friday July 15 2016, @05:52PM
Thanks for the insights. It is not that I hate Chinese people, I work with a large group of Orientals, Chinese and Korean mostly, but a few Vietnamese as well. I personally see a difference between the people and the government which I do not like. Once you get to know them they are as varied as any other ethnicity, and quite friendly, though it did take some effort to get them to actually talk to the lone white guy on the tech staff. We've recently begun to interact outside of the work environment, e.g. Lunch or dinner once a week and I've met some family members.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Friday July 15 2016, @12:35AM
What did we expect from a government that once idealized "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @12:57AM
US Second Amendment implies the same, that's why the politically empowered populace was to be well armed.
Let's have yet another stupid debate about the difference between communism and whatever you pretend you live under instead.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Type44Q on Friday July 15 2016, @01:31AM
To be fair, they haven't idealized it any more than the u.s. has; they're just less interested in being deceptive about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @01:02AM
Only for the idiots.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @01:40AM
The 'Law of the Sea' is a UN treaty. The US House of Representatives has repeatedly refused to ratify it. So the US cannot cite it as justification for any maritime 'actions' in the South China Sea, or elsewhere. This is either about oil/gas, which I doubt, or fishing. Marine traffic? Tankers to Japan, SKorea, Taiwan & China can route around the Philipines with little difficulty. So this seems to be really a 'national pride' thing. Japan & Phillipines are going fascist, so the US should stop backing them. 'Loss' of overseas bases for the US sounds like a win to me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @01:57AM
Correction: I meant the US Senate, not House.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @02:19AM
Make sure to pay tax on your fitty cents, shill.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @02:09AM
A typhoon like the one that just hit Taiwan should scrub those man-made islands clean. Unfortunately to get there, its path would also have to go over the Philippines.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday July 15 2016, @04:10AM
Do we send in the 7th fleet and a bunch of Seabees to dismantle all the islands they've built? Do we "tsk tsk that wasn't nice", then ignore it? Do we hike tariffs on things made in China so we can wreck their (and possibly ours) economy?
Enquiring minds want to know.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday July 15 2016, @02:02PM
Or build another island right next to these and pack it with with freedom?
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by SecurityGuy on Friday July 15 2016, @02:07PM
How about we feel justified because we're not the world police, and a maritime dispute between China and the Philippines isn't our problem. Maybe the 77% of the world that isn't the US or China should handle it.
We're really in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Part of the world gets mad at us for intervening outside our borders. The other part calls for us to intervene outside our borders.
(Score: 2) by donkeyhotay on Friday July 15 2016, @03:09PM
This is ridiculous. No one is going to do anything. Unless you want a severe shortage of literally EVERYTHING, from cell phones, to washing machine parts, to tires, you're not going to start anything with China. It is THEY who have us by the short hairs. Those who say, "We'll stop buying stuff from China," need to consider that the Chinese Communist Party cares not a whit about the welfare of their people. They can go without the income a lot longer than we can go without practically every manufactured item you can imagine.