BEIJING has launched a strong diplomatic rebuttal against a 14-nation statement supporting the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling, urging countries involved to stop “stirring up trouble” and cease actions that it said were damaging peace and stability in the disputed waters.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the countries backing the ruling should “earnestly respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea”, while reiterating Beijing’s long-standing position that it does not recognise the tribunal decision issued a decade ago.
The statement came after the United States, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom issued a joint declaration marking the 10th anniversary of the arbitration award.
The 14 countries described the ruling by the arbitral tribunal established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as “a significant milestone”, stating that there was “no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea”.
The Philippines has continued to cite the 2016 ruling as a legal foundation for challenging China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea, with Manila arguing that the decision invalidated Beijing’s historical claims based on the so-called nine-dash line.
China Daily reported that China, however, rejected the position, saying the award was “a worthless piece of paper that is illegal, null and void”.
“If the ‘award’ were to be taken as a standard, many countries’ islands and reefs would be denied the basis for claiming maritime rights and interests,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“May we ask, have those countries supporting the ‘award’ voluntarily waived the maritime rights and interests deriving from their relevant islands and reefs?” it added.
Beijing maintained that territorial sovereignty issues were outside the jurisdiction of UNCLOS and said it opposed any claims or actions based on the arbitration ruling.
“Land territorial issues are not subject to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the ministry said, adding that China “does not accept or recognise the ‘award’”.
The ministry also accused the United States and other countries of increasing military activities in the South China Sea, claiming their actions amounted to “militarisation and coercion” that represented the “primary challenge” to the current regional situation.
“These acts of militarisation and coercion constitute the primary challenge to the current situation in the South China Sea,” the ministry said.
Beijing further claimed that the arbitration ruling had been used by Manila over the past decade to expand its maritime claims and had encouraged outside powers to intervene in the region.
For the past 10 years, the “award” has “become a tool for the Philippines to expand its territorial and maritime claims, exacerbated tensions in the region and provided a pretext for external forces to intervene and destabilise the South China Sea”, the ministry said.
“The continued playing up of the illegal ‘award’ by certain countries goes against the aspirations of countries and people in the region for development and prosperity,” it added, warning that “such attempts are doomed to fail”.
Wu Shicun, chairman of the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, described the arbitration decision as “a political farce” carried out by the previous Philippine administration, alleging that it was influenced by the United States and supported by Japan to justify Manila’s maritime claims.
Japan also drew criticism from Beijing after Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi issued a separate statement supporting the arbitration ruling and criticising China’s position in the South China Sea.
“China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a written response.
The spokesperson accused Japan of attempting to interfere in the South China Sea dispute despite what Beijing described as Japan’s historical aggression and expansion during wartime.
“This reminds people of Japan’s history of aggression and expansion, and heightens their vigilance against Japan’s neo-militarist agenda,” the spokesperson said.
Beijing also challenged Japan’s maritime claims, referring to Okinotori, a remote feature in the Pacific Ocean that Tokyo considers capable of generating an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf rights.
According to China, the same interpretation used in the 2016 arbitration ruling against Taiping Dao in the Nansha Islands would undermine similar claims by Japan.
“By that ‘standard’, many of Japan’s islands and reefs would likewise have no basis for claiming maritime rights and interests,” the spokesperson said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said its Department of Asian Affairs had summoned Japan’s chief minister at the Japanese embassy in Beijing to lodge a formal protest.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Mission to the European Union also criticised a separate EU statement supporting the arbitration ruling and calling for freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.
A spokesperson for the Chinese mission said the EU was not a direct stakeholder in the dispute and accused Brussels of ignoring “the historical context and objective facts of the South China Sea issue”.
The spokesperson said the EU statement “runs counter to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter” and was “detrimental to the region’s peace and stability”.
The latest diplomatic exchanges come as Manila and its partners continue efforts to reinforce support for the 2016 ruling, with the Philippines holding nationwide commemorations marking what it described as a decade of defending its maritime rights.
The anniversary was marked in Manila through the National Peace Walk 2026, attended by Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr., Philippine Coast Guard officials and thousands of supporters.
Teodoro said the Philippines must continue implementing the arbitration ruling through its own policies and actions.
“We should implement it ourselves; that is the strategy. The tactics and the operations and the timelines may change,” he said.
The anniversary also saw renewed commitments from several countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and members of the European Union, to strengthen maritime cooperation, defence partnerships and information-sharing with Manila.
The Philippines has argued that continued international backing demonstrates growing recognition of the importance of upholding international law and maintaining a rules-based maritime order in the South China Sea.
China, meanwhile, has maintained that external involvement risks escalating tensions and insists that disputes should be resolved through direct negotiations between claimant states. - July 13, 2026
