Off the wire
• WHO reminds travelers vaccination against measles,rubella before Rio Olympic  • 1st LD-Writethru: Taiwan authorities dismiss South China Sea arbitration award  • Spotlight: Law-abusing tribunal issues ill-founded award on South China Sea arbitration, draws worldwide criticism  • U.S. attorney general defends decision on Clinton email probe  • The JSE closes firmer, with gains across most sector  • No reason for China to accept South China Sea arbitration award: Bangladeshi experts  • (Special for CAFS) Tanzania plans to buy two 4.4 million USD new civilian radars  • Slovak police help combat illegal migration in Macedonia  • British FTSE 100 stays largely flat on Tuesday  • World heritage meeting highlights damages to sites in conflict zones  
You are here: 　 Home

China refutes U.S. statement on South China Sea arbitration award

Xinhua, July 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

China is strongly displeased with a press statement issued by the Spokesperson of the U.S. State Department on Tuesday on the award issued by the South China Sea arbitration tribunal unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine government.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a statement that China is firmly opposed to the U.S. statement and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side.

The U.S. statement turned a blind eye to the facts and endorsed an award that is illegal and invalid, Lu said, stressing the U.S. act went against the spirit of rule of law as well as the basic norms of international law and international relations.

The U.S. statement also went against its declaration of not taking sides on issues concerning territorial disputes, he added.

Lu said that the U.S. side is always selective when it comes to the application of international law: citing international law when it sees fit and discarding international law when it sees otherwise.

"It keeps urging others to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) while refusing to ratify the convention to this day. What makes the United States think that it is in a position to make all these irresponsible remarks against others? " said Lu.

He urged the U.S. side to think over its words and deeds, stop fanning fires for the illegal arbitration and meddling up the South China Sea, and put an end to undermining China's sovereignty and security interests and escalating regional tensions.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. State Department said that the award was binding on both parties and that the U.S. expected China and the Philippines both to comply with their obligations under it, said an AP report. Endi