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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Beijing South China Sea claims rejected by court | Beijing South China Sea claims rejected by court |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An international tribunal has ruled against Chinese claims to rights in South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines. | An international tribunal has ruled against Chinese claims to rights in South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines. |
| The Permanent Court of Arbitration said there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources. | The Permanent Court of Arbitration said there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources. |
| China called the ruling "ill-founded" and says it will not be bound by it. | |
| China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others. | China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others. |
| The tribunal in The Hague said China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights. It also said China had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment" by building artificial islands. | |
| The ruling came from an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both countries have signed. | |
| The ruling is binding but the tribunal, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, has no powers of enforcement. | |
| The US sent an aircraft carrier and fighter jets to the region ahead of the ruling, prompting an angry editorial in the Global Times, a strongly nationalist state-run newspaper, calling for the US to prepare for "military confrontation". | |
| Meanwhile, the Chinese Navy has been carrying out exercises near the disputed Paracel islands. | |
| Philippe Sands, a lawyer for the Philippines in the case, said it was a "clear and unanimous judgement that upholds the rule of law and the rights claimed by the Philippines". | |
| He called it a "definitive ruling on which all states can place reliance". | |
| However, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua said that "as the panel has no jurisdiction, its decision is naturally null and void". | |
| The tribunal was ruling on seven of 15 points brought by the Philippines. Among the key findings were: | |
| Rocks, reefs or islands - what is the difference? |