China still furious over S. China sea ruling; Rivals refuse to celebrate (Updated)

China angrily maintained its refusal to accept the ruling of the UN-backed tribunal in The Hague which rejected its claim to vast areas of the South China sea, but there were soothing words from Manila.

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Angry China warns against 'cradle of war' in sea

China warned rivals Wednesday against turning the South China Sea into a "cradle of war" and threatened an air defence zone there, after its claims to the strategically vital waters were declared invalid.

"Do not turn the South China Sea into a cradle of war," vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters in Beijing, as he described the ruling as waste paper.

Liu also said China had "the right" to establish an air defence identification zone over the sea, which would give the Chinese military authority over foreign aircraft.

The Philippines, under new President Rodrigo Duterte, declined to celebrate the verdict.

"We have to be magnanimous in victory," Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told reporters in Manila on Wednesday.

Duterte has repeatedly said he wants to improve relations with China, which plummeted under Aquino because of the dispute, and that he would seek Chinese investment for major infrastructure projects such as a railway for the impoverished southern Philippines.

He is open to direct talks with China aimed at achieving a long-awaited code of conduct among rival claimants for the sea. China has long wanted to negotiate directly, and analysts said dialogue rather than conflict was the most likely scenario.

Yet a military build-up in the sea continued.

China launched naval drills in the northern areas before the verdict, while the US Pacific Command said it had deployed an aircraft carrier for flights to support "security" in the sea.

Taiwan, which was another loser in the verdict as its claims are very similar to those of China, sent a warship on Wednesday to the sea to protect its claims.

Indonesia also announced it would sharply strengthen security around its islands in the sea, where there have been clashes with Chinese vessels recently.

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Note: Thus far, the focus has been on China's reaction, but watch as other countries in the region have their say. Will ASEAN make a statement?

Beijing fury as tribunal rejects South China Sea claims

Beijing, AFP – Beijing furiously rejected an international tribunal ruling Tuesday that rendered its claims in the South China Sea invalid and dealt a devastating diplomatic blow to its ambitions in the resource-rich region.

China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital waters, despite rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours, most notably the Philippines.

But on Tuesday a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague – the Permanent Court of Arbitration – ruled that China has no historic rights to the area.

China, having boycotted the proceedings, said it "neither accepts nor recognises" the ruling.

"The award is null and void and has no binding force," China's foreign ministry said on its website, reiterating its ^territorial claims.

The Philippines, which had lodged the suit in 2013, welcomed the "milestone decision", and foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said: "We call on all those concerned to exercise restraint and sobriety."

President Xi Jinping said the islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times and Beijing will not accept any action based on the decision, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The Asian giant's Ambassador to the Netherlands Wu Ken was meanwhile quoted by Xinhua as saying "today is 'black Tuesday for The Hague" and that "the ruling "dishonours international law".

China's claims, which include waters approaching neighbouring countries, are based on a vaguely defined "nine-dash-line" found on a 1940s Chinese map.

The row has embroiled the United States, which has deployed aircraft carriers and a host of other vessels to assert freedom of navigation in the waters – through which one-third of the global oil trade passes.

China says that its fishermen have visited the area for centuries, but the PCA tribunal said that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Beijing had no exclusive control of it.

Any historic rights were "extinguished" when it signed up to UNCLOS, it said, and there was "no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the 'nine-dash line'," it said.

In Washington, the State Department said the ruling was an "important contribution" to resolving regional disputes and should be seen as "final and legally binding".

But how the decision could be enforced remains open to question, Richard Heydarian, a political analyst at De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP.

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