Sitting in the dark in his small house, with a colorful painting of the god of fortune hanging on the wall, Wei Hongfu was as immobile as the wooden beams that have supported his roof for 40 years.
A leading Hong Kong law expert questioned on July 13 both the procedures and the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal in The Hague in the South China Sea case, which ruled on July 12 in favor of the Philippines.
The Chinese people have been expressing their support for their government's stance in the South China Sea issue and voicing anger at the ruling in the arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the Philippines.
The United Nations said on July 13 it has nothing to do with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which set up a tribunal that handled the South China Sea arbitration case the Philippines filed unilaterally in 2013.
Two civil airliners touched down for the first time on runways on Meiji Reef and Zhubi Reef in the South China Sea on July 13, showing the feasibility of the two new Nansha Islands as flight destinations in China's southernmost territories.
Editor's note: The Chinese government on July 13 issued a white paper to expound on its position, which calls for settling relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea through negotiation. Here's the summary of white paper titled China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
"I felt worried about the outcome of the South China Sea arbitration award, as it solves nothing but causes trouble for many countries," Lee Chian Siong, senior adviser to the chairman of the China-ASEAN Business Association, told Xinhua News Agency on July 13.
Just as anticipated, the South China Sea arbitral tribunal in The Hague delivered an outrageously one-sided ruling in the case initiated by the Philippines.
The Philippines' arbitration case on the South China Sea is a political farce enshrouded in a legal cloak. Its true purpose is to deny China's sovereignty and maritime interests.
The Hague-based arbitral tribunal on July 12 passed its ruling on the case unilaterally brought by the Philippines in its dispute with China in the South China Sea, but China remains firm on its stance of "non-acceptance, non-recognition and non-compliance". There is enough reason for China to do so, because the ruling, along with the arbitration, is null and void and thus not binding.
If I had to choose three words to reflect my views on the arbitration over the South China Sea disputes unilaterally filed by the Philippines against China, they would be: illegal, illegitimate and invalid.
With a ruling in the South China Sea arbitration case set to be unveiled, an increasing number of countries have echoed China's position expressing concern about what it calls the expansion and abuse of power of the arbitral tribunal in The Hague.
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