China’s disregard of PCA ruling may damage its image: RoK expert

Hanoi, July 26 (VNA) – China may damage its image in the international community if the country ignores the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague on the Philippines’s lawsuit against China’s claims in the East Sea, an expert in international law of the Republic of Korea (RoK) has said. Such behaviour may also affect China’s diplomatic position on its path towards a developed nation, said Dr. Seo In Won from the RoK’s Asian Social Science Research Institute. The expert told the Vietnam News Agency on July 23 that the court’s ruling that rejects China’s sovereignty claims in the East Sea is an example of peaceful solutions to maritime disputes. He underlined the need for the international community to observe the ruling in order to settle disputes over marine resources and territory peacefully in the future. As a member of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), China must accept and abide by the ruling, he stated. On July 12, the PCA issued the ruling on the case brought by the Philippines against China’s nine-dash line claim in the East Sea, saying China’s claims to historic rights for waters within the nine-dash line are contrary to the 1982 UNCLOS. The Hague Tribunal also finds no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the nine-dash line. The country has no historic title over waters of the East Sea. At the same time, China has caused permanent and irreparable harm to the coral reef ecosystem at Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, the court said.-VNA