AMSTERDAM: Judges at an arbitration tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday rejected China's claims to economic rights across large swathes of the South China Sea in a ruling that will be claimed as a victory by the Philippines.
"There was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the 'nine-dash line'," the court said, referring to a demarcation line on a 1947 map of the sea, which is rich in energy, mineral and fishing resources.
In the 497-page ruling, judges also found that Chinese law enforcement patrols had risked colliding with Philippine fishing vessels in parts of the sea and caused irreparable damage to coral reefs with construction work.
China, which boycotted the case brought by the Philippines, has said it will not be bound by any ruling.
Philippines urges 'restraint and sobriety'
The Philippines' foreign minister called for "restraint and sobriety" in the South China Sea on Tuesday after an international arbitration court issued a decision favourable to Manila and condemned by Beijing.
"Our experts are studying this award with the care and thoroughness that this significant arbitral outcome deserves," Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay told a news conference.
"We call on all those concerned to exercise restraint and sobriety. The Philippines strongly affirms its respect for this milestone decision."
China rejects Hague tribunal judgement: Xinhua
China "does not accept and does not recognise" the ruling by a UN-backed tribunal on its dispute with the Philippines over the South China Sea, the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday.
The comments, in a brief dispatch that did not identify a source, follow a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that China has no historic rights to its claimed "nine-dash line".
China carries out calibration tests at new airports
A Chinese civilian aircraft successfully carried out calibration tests on two new airports in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua said.
It said the two airports were on Mischief Reef and Subi Reef, and the facilities will help with personnel transfers to the Spratlys.
The anouncement came as a tribunal in The Hague said none of the Spratly islands granted China an exclusive economic zone.
