BEIJING, July 12 -- The Chinese people are resolved to defend the country's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, said the People's Daily in a commentary to be carried on Wednesday.
The tribunal handling the South China Sea arbitration case issued its award on Tuesday, amid a global chorus that the panel has no jurisdiction.
The tribunal, in defiance of basic facts, overrode international law and basic principles of international relations, and severely infringed on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, the commentary said.
Chinese government and people, with fierce opposition, will neither accept nor recognize the award, it continued.
The commentary said, "We will not lay claim on even an inch of land that does not belong to us, but neither will we give up even the tiniest parcel of our territory."
China will take all necessary measures to protect its territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests from encroachment.
Upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea, China has all along adhered to peaceful solution of disputes through negotiations and safeguarded freedom of navigation and overflight in this area, the commentary said.
However, manipulated and instigated by "outside forces", the former Philippine government and the tribunal, in defiance of basic facts, attempted to bend the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to their needs and deny China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, it continued.
There is no way that China can accept such overt political provocation, according to the commentary.
The administration of former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III and the arbitral tribunal, in the attempt to deny China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, merely acted as "puppets" of some "outside forces".
The drama they initiated was nothing but a farce that would eventually prove futile and be disregarded by history, the commentary said.
