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U.S.-China tensions may increase in wake of South China Sea ruling

ROC Central News Agency

2016/07/13 13:49:24

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) A ruling on disputes in the South China Sea that was unfavorable to China will likely ratchet up the wrangling between China and the United States in the region and threaten regional stability, Taiwan's National Security Bureau said Wednesday.

In a written report to a legislative committee on the impact of the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, the bureau said the result was unfavorable to China and predicted Beijing might respond with more aggressive action.

The bureau suggested Beijing could step up efforts to build more military infrastructure in the South China Sea, send more patrol ships to disputed waters, hold military exercises there and even declare an air defense identification zone over the region.

The United States, meanwhile, has said the ruling by the tribunal is final and legally binding on both China and the Philippines, and it urged them to meet that obligation. It also called on all claimants to avoid provocative statements or actions.

The U.S. will continue to maintain its military presence in the South China Sea, which will likely further fuel the wrangling between China and the U.S. in the region and threaten regional stability, the bureau said in the report.

In the case brought by the Philippines against China over South China Sea disputes, the international arbitration court ruled that there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources in the islands in the South China Sea.

There was therefore no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the "nine-dash line," the court said.

The tribunal also concluded that all of the high-tide features in the Spratly Islands (including Itu Aba, Thitu, West York Island, Spratly Island, North-East Cay and South-West Cay) are legally "rocks" that do not generate an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

The ruling backed Manila's argument that the features claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea were not islands and therefore not entitled to 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zones that underpin China's "nine-dash line" territorial claim over the sea's waters.

Beijing has said it would not acknowledge or accept the ruling.

While Taiwan was not party to the case, it still had an indirect stake in the verdict because its claims in the South China Sea are similar to those of China, and Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba) was brought up in testimony during the court hearings.

After the result was made known, Taiwan said it will not accept the ruling and stressed its sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and surrounding waters.

In Wednesday's report, the bureau said the government's efforts to safeguard the country's sovereignty over Taiping and the surrounding marine ecology will receive greater attention from around the world.

Taiwan has long defined the 0.51-square kilometer Taiping as an island that can sustain human habitation and economic life. Taiwan took control of Taiping -- the largest natural feature in the Spratly Islands -- in 1956.

It lies about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan.

(By Tang Pei-chun and Elaine Hou)
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