14 nations back 2016 ruling, reject China's South China Sea claims

Manila,UPDATED: Jul 12, 2026 14:22 IST

The US, the UK and 12 other Western and Asian countries on Sunday reaffirmed that China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea are illegal under a 2016 arbitration ruling. In a joint statement, the 14 countries rejected what they called “destabilising” actions in the disputed waters that threaten regional stability.

The 27-member European Union issued a separate statement, describing the ruling as a “landmark decision in the peaceful settlement of disputes”. China, however, repeated that the ruling was “null and void and has no binding force” and said Beijing “neither accepts nor recognises it”.

The statements marked the anniversary of the July 12, 2016 arbitration ruling by a tribunal set up in The Hague under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The countries said the decision “is final and legally binding”. China had refused to take part in the arbitration, which was initiated by the Philippines in 2013 after a tense standoff in the contested waters a year earlier ended with Beijing effectively taking control of a disputed shoal.

Beijing rejected the 2016 ruling and has continued to defend its claim to almost the entire South China Sea, a major global trade route and one of Asia’s most sensitive flashpoints. The waters have seen repeated territorial confrontations involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

“We reaffirm the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on ‘historic rights’,” the US-led statement said. The tribunal had largely ruled in favour of the Philippines, saying there was “no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources” in the South China Sea beyond its regular territorial areas recognised under the convention.

The convention, widely regarded as the treaty governing the world’s oceans and seas, took effect in 1994 and has been ratified by more than 170 countries and parties, including China and the Philippines. Apart from the US and the UK, the countries named in Sunday’s statement were the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia.

“We reiterate our strong opposition to any destabilizing or unilateral actions including by force or coercion that threaten peace and stability in the region,” the countries said. They also stressed “our strong opposition to the use of coast guard, military and maritime militia forces to harass, obstruct, intimidate lawful operations by other states at sea or in the air and in so doing endanger the safety of personnel and fishermen and seriously degrade regional peace and security”. They said “freedom of navigation and overflight as well as other internationally lawful uses of the sea as reflected in UNCLOS” must be upheld, and that territorial disputes should be resolved peacefully under the 1982 UN convention.

In Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the tribunal and its ruling “seriously contravene the general practice of international arbitration” and “gravely infringe upon China’s legitimate rights as a sovereign state and state party to UNCLOS and are unjust and unlawful”. It said, “China opposes and will never accept any claim or action based on those awards,” adding that Beijing “does not accept any means of third-party dispute settlement or any solution imposed on China”.

Confrontations in the disputed waters have become more frequent in recent years, especially between Chinese and Philippine and Vietnamese forces and fishing fleets. Chinese coast guard ships and support vessels have used powerful water cannons, military-grade lasers and dangerous blocking manoeuvres against Philippine forces and fishermen from rival claimant countries, leading to collisions at sea and high-risk encounters in the air. The United States has repeatedly asked China to comply with the arbitration ruling, while both the former Biden administration and the current Trump administration have said Washington is bound to defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, vessels or aircraft come under armed attack in the disputed waters.

The statements issued on Sunday underlined continued international support for the 2016 arbitration ruling, even as China again rejected it and tensions in the South China Sea remained high.

With PTI Inputs

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