Beijing slams Hague Tribunal verdict after it rejects South China Sea claims

As the Hague Tribunal delivered its verdict that China does "not have historic rights" in the South China Sea, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency has said that China "does not accept and does not recognise" the judgement.

On 12 July, an international tribunal ruled that China had no legal basis to claim historic rights to resources in the South China Sea. "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 in a 497-page ruling, said, referring to a demarcation line on a 1947 map of the sea.

According to reports, judges 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.

However, China has slammed the ruling saying that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague did not have jurisdiction to decide on the matter. "We won't accept any of their so-called materials, no matter what they are," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang told media.

Ahead of the verdict, the state-run Global Times said: "The US and Japan have claimed that relevant countries, including China, should comply with the arbitration result. They stand in sharp confrontation with China, which has announced that the award would be 'nothing but a piece of paper'."