The United States, the United Kingdom and a dozen other Western and Asian countries today reasserted that China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea are illegal based on a 2016 arbitration ruling.
A joint statement issued by the 14 nations said, they reject “destabilising” actions in the disputed waters that threaten regional stability.
On the other hand, the 27-nation European Union released a separate statement, reaffirming the ruling as a “landmark decision in the peaceful settlement of disputes”.
The statements commemorated a July 12, 2016, arbitration ruling by a tribunal established in The Hague under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, saying the landmark decision is “is final and legally binding”.
China, however, dismissed the ruling, saying it is null and void and has no binding force, and reiterated that Beijing neither accepts nor recognises it.
China refused to join the arbitration initiated by the Philippines in 2013 after a tense standoff in the contested waters a year earlier that ended with Beijing effectively seizing a disputed shoal.
The South China Sea remains a major flashpoint, with repeated territorial standoffs involving China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.