At the recent ASEAN Plus foreign ministers’ meetings, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shared Beijing’s perspective on the South China Sea arbitration, sparking renewed debate over maritime rights and international law.
China argues the arbitration, unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, violated key principles. Without prior consultations or state consent, Wang said, the case lacked any legal foundation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and breached both the DOC and bilateral agreements.
Territorial claims over the Nansha Islands and maritime boundary issues—excluded by China’s 2006 UNCLOS declaration—are outside compulsory arbitration. Of the five permanent UN Security Council members, only the United States hasn’t ratified UNCLOS; the other four, including China, have similar opt-outs.
The arbitral tribunal’s 2016 ruling also faced sharp criticism. By classifying Taiping Island—a feature of over 500,000 square meters—as a rock, the tribunal denied it an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, Wang noted. “If adopted worldwide, this standard would upend the existing maritime order,” he said.
Wang accused external forces of orchestrating the arbitration to undermine regional stability. Yet cooperation with ASEAN partners has kept freedom of navigation strong and tensions in check.
China is now fast-tracking talks with ASEAN on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, aiming to build a “new narrative of peace, cooperation and friendship.” Wang concluded: “Any attempt to stir up trouble will ultimately fail.”
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Wang Yi expounds China's position on South China Sea arbitration case
cgtn.com
