A senior Chinese official has suggested the international judges who ruled most of the country's territorial claims in the South China Sea as illegal may have been influenced by money, in Beijing's latest attempt to delegitimise the decision.
-- Key points:
* White paper released by China reiterates claim to disputed islands
* China says it will continue to patrol waters because "South China Sea belongs to China"
* Chinese ambassador to the US says court ruling will "certainly intensify conflicts" --
Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin released a white paper on Wednesday reiterating China's historical and legal claims to the disputed islands, defiantly ignoring Tuesday's ruling.
But he went further, saying the five judges were out of touch with the issues because they all live in Europe, and then questioning if they were swayed by money.
"These judges are paid, so who's really behind this tribunal," Mr Liu asked at a media conference.
"Who was paying them? Was it the Philippines or some other country?"
He also pointed out that a Permanent Court of Arbitration judge responsible for selecting the five arbitrators was from Japan, China's traditional rival.
Shunji Yanai "manipulated the tribunal" and helped influence the decision, Mr Liu said.
Asked how China would respond to the ruling, Mr Liu said declaring an air defence identification zone — a move experts have warned could lead to potential conflict with countries including Australia .. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-13/conroy-accuses-china-of-bullying-over-south-china-sea/7623712 — "depends on the degree of threat we're facing", but that Beijing reserves the right to do so.
He also said naval ships would continue to patrol the waters because "the South China Sea belongs to China".
Beijing's claims to the waters — extending almost to the coasts of other littoral states — are enshrined in a "nine-dash line" that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s.
-- What is Freedom of Navigation?
* A principle of customary international law that allows any sovereign state to challenge territorial claims on the world's oceans and airspace
* The US Freedom of Navigation (FON) program has been running since 1979, including operations in the South China Sea
* Australia has been urged to run its own FON operations within 12 nautical miles of China's artificial islands in the area --
China had "never ceased carrying out activities such as patrolling and law enforcement, resources development and scientific survey" on the islands and in "relevant waters", the white paper said.
But the document is in direct contradiction to the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which said that "there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources".
The UN-backed tribunal also said that any "historic rights" to resources in the waters of the South China Sea were "extinguished" when China signed up to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, warned the ruling "will certainly intensify conflicts and even confrontation".
"In the end, it will undermine the authority and effectiveness of international law," he added, speaking at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The envoy also warned that the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling "will probably open the door of abusing arbitration procedures".
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 a third of the global oil trade passes.
Criticising the American show of force in the region, Mr Cui warned it could lead to conflict.
"Intensified military activities so close to Chinese islands and reefs or even entering the neighbouring waters of these islands and reefs, these activities certainly have the risk of leading to some conflict," he said.
"I am quite sure they will have the effect of destabilising regional stability.
"If armed conflict started, everybody's interest would be hurt, including our interest and I am sure the interests of the USA."
Trump and China: Beijing leadership sees 'huge chance' as president-elect flags isolationist approach
"The U.S. and China’s Nine-Dash Line: Ending the Ambiguity "
.. Peter Costello Liberal (Aussi conservative) a former Australian treasurer just returned from China and said China saw the election of Trump as an opportunity for them .. that comment prompted this post ..
By North Asia correspondent Matthew Carney
Updated 10 Nov 2016, 9:13am
Photo: For now, it's wait and see on Donald Trump's China stance (AP: Susan Walsh)
With the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States the world enters a new and uncertain era — and the relationship that Mr Trump strikes with China will be critical to global stability and growth.
During the campaign Mr Trump bashed China to win votes at home. His message was blunt — China was "raping" the US economy, stealing millions of jobs, and was a currency manipulator.
He has promised to take decisive action, but now he is the new president-elect the Chinese are unsure of what to expect.
Political commentator Professor Xie Tao from Beijing Foreign Language University said all bets were off.
"You just don't know him, he's never had a single day in office," he said.
"The learning curve for Trump will be long, so Chinese leaders will have to get ready for a long period of learning with Trump."
The president-elect has not given the Chinese leadership any clear or consistent indication on where he will take the relationship.
On the positive side, some in the leadership think Mr Trump, as a businessman and negotiator, may start afresh and that could provide an opportunity for China to secure more benefits.
But at this stage it's wait and see. Mr Trump hasn't picked his China team.
On the strategic and security front, the Chinese leadership prefer Mr Trump over Hillary Clinton. As secretary of state they saw Mrs Clinton as the architect and driver of the American pivot into Asia.
Mr Trump, on the other hand, has said Japan and South Korea should look after their own defences and should not rely on America.
Professor Xie Tao said that would be a godsend for China.
"If the US is alienating Japan and South Korea and US troops leave the region, it's a huge chance for China," he said.
"That is yet to be seen, but the leadership in China will be hoping Trump as president may scale back the pivot to Asia, and therefore (also scale back) America's push back against China's claims and control over the South China Sea."
The Chinese have been alarmed at Mr Trump's talk of throwing out trade treaties and increasing the tariffs on Chinese goods to 45 per cent, which would be damaging for the Chinese economy.
But they have also dismissed the president-elect as an irrational loudmouth.
Foreign Policy advisor to senior Chinese leadership, Professor Jin Canrong, said China was ready for a Trump presidency.
"China is not afraid of any other country — that's the most important reality of world today. China can handle any challenges including military challenges, no problem," he said.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
