China rejects PH pleading, invokes int’l law

Out to prove it is not an international outlaw, China argued on Sunday, March 30, that its position on the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) is “solidly based on international law.” The arbitral tribunal at the United Nations’ Permanent Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction over the Philippine case, China argued. This is because the disputes involve land and delimitation of maritime boundaries, over which China had rejected arbitral proceedings in its declaration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement his country rejects the Philippine quest for arbitration.
 

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