Beijing vows 'never to stop' construction in South China Sea, says it’s lawful

[rangerrebew]

 Beijing vows 'never to stop' construction in South China Sea, says it’s lawful
Published time: 19 Jul, 2016 11:51
Edited time: 19 Jul, 2016 11:54
 
Beijing has pledged to “never stop” construction in the South China Sea, insisting its activities are “justified and lawful.” A tribunal at The Hague has rejected China's claims to “historic rights” in the disputed sea in a case brought by the Philippines.

“We will never stop our construction on the Nansha Islands [China‘s name for the Spratly Islands] halfway,” Wu Shengli, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, told US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson on Monday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Read more
Chinese President Xi Jinping. © Edgar Su ‘Ill-founded, farcical’: Beijing blasts South China Sea ruling, vows to defend its interests

He stressed that the Spratly Islands are “China's inherent territory, and our necessary construction on the islands is reasonable, justified and lawful.”

https://www.rt.com/news/352053-construction-south-china-sea/

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[thackney]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexfrewmcmillan/2016/07/13/why-china-already-broke-its-word-on-spratlys-real-estate-and-thats-good-news/#337420653240


...China lost on every count in the case brought by the Philippines before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The whole verdict hinged on a crucial property decision, as I wrote yesterday. What exactly is an island, when you can construct artificial ones?

The court took its definition from the Law of the Sea, which went into effect in 1994. Article 121 says that an “island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide.” Another clause takes the definition further. “Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf,” it adds. Rocks are not islands, which get that zone....

[Just_Victor]

Using China's definition of island, and subsequently sovereign national territory under maritime law, if I replace the flight deck of an aircraft carrier with dirt, I now have an island.

[Fishrrman]

Sumthin' tells me that the Chinese won't stop until they ARE "stopped".

But "the stopper" ain't gonna be us ...