China maintained that the 2016 Arbitral Award, which invalidated the basis of China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea and upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), was “illegitimate” and “illegal,” and called on the Philippines to “actively advance” consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) instead.

In a statement by the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Manila on Saturday, July 13, the embassy called the arbitral award, which commemorated its eighth anniversary on Friday, a “political circus dressed up as a legal action.”

“The arbitral tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and made an illegitimate ruling. The award thus rendered is illegal, null and void. China does not accept or recognize it, and will never accept any claim or action thereon,” the statement read.

Instead, the statement urged the Philippines “honor its commitments, stop citing and hyping up the illegal award and get back onto the right track of bilateral negotiation for settling the disputes at an early date.”

The embassy reiterated China’s position that “the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable,” and that China and other claimant-countries like the Philippines must work together with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “to manage maritime differences, deepen maritime cooperation, fully and effectively implement the DOC, actively advance the COC consultation, keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable.”

The DOC or the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in South China Sea was adopted by China and the ASEAN in 2002 to negotiate the more binding COC, which aims to make rules laid out in the declaration operative.

These rules, which reflect international norms and principles, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), aim to achieve stability in the disputed waterway.

However, China also stressed that it will continue to “safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests” and at the same time, “continue to resolve maritime disputes through negotiations and consultations with parties directly concerned based on a respect for historical facts and the international law.”

Meanwhile, the embassy lamented that “the Philippine side clings onto this illegal, invalid arbitral award at the expense of its relations with China.”

“By aligning itself with the US and some other Western countries on the South China Sea issue, the Philippines joins the small circle of the west ganging up against China,” it said.

“To cling to this position and the arbitral award will get the Philippines nowhere but farther and farther away from the right path,” the statement added.

Calling the United States the “mastermind” behind the arbitration, the embassy said that Washington “annually ropes in allies to play up the issue of the illegal award against China in a vain attempt to exert pressure on, and force China into accepting the award.”

“We are firmly against this. We urge the US and its allies to refrain from making statements and taking actions that disrupt regional peace and stability, and stop being a trouble maker in the South China Sea,” it maintained.

At a Stratbase ADRI forum in Makati on Friday, July 12, foreign governments, through its ambassadors, reaffirmed their support for the arbitral award, describing it as “final and binding” on all parties, including China.

The event was attended by Ambassadors MaryKay Carlson of US, Hae Kyong Yu of Australia, Endo Kazuya of Japan, David Hartman of Canada, and Marie Fontanel of France.