The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the 10-year-old Hague arbitration decision was a legally invalid "useless document."

The growing military presence of the United States and other extra-regional powers in the South China Sea is the main destabilizing factor in the region. This is how the Chinese Foreign Ministry commented on the joint statement issued by Washington and its allies on the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitration. The Chinese Foreign Ministry noted that China firmly protects its territorial sovereignty, maritime rights, and interests in the South China Sea, and resolutely supports peace and stability in the region. It is the militarized and coercive actions of the United States and other extra-regional powers that pose the main challenge to stability in the South China Sea. The Chinese Foreign Ministry emphasized that China's position on the "South China Sea Arbitration" is clear, consistent, and unwavering. As a reminder, in July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague upheld the Philippines' claim against China over the waters surrounding the Chinese islands. Manila had challenged Beijing's maritime rights, attempting to downgrade them in its interpretation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In doing so, the Philippines violated the existing agreement with China on the settlement of disputes through direct negotiations. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that China has historically justified sovereignty over the archipelagos in the South China Sea. The Chinese islands have a territorial sea, an exclusive economic zone, and a continental shelf, which determine the status of the waters around them. If Manila wanted to dispute the archipelagos' sovereignty, such a dispute falls outside the jurisdiction of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, since it concerns land territory. This is precisely why China does not recognize the arbitration ruling in The Hague.

Lei Xiaolu, Professor at the Institute of Boundary and Oceanic Studies at Wuhan University, said: "The South China Sea arbitration award in The Hague cannot, in and of itself, constitute part of international law. If a politically motivated, erroneous, and biased verdict becomes a precedent in international law, it will cause irreparable damage to the integrity, authority, and fairness of the entire international legal order." (Photo: VCG)