On July 11, Global Affairs Canada issued a statement on “the ninth anniversary” of the so-called award of the South China Sea arbitration. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this.

China's position on the South China Sea arbitration has been consistent. First, the arbitral tribunal violated the principle of state consent. The arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the Philippines lacked the necessary precondition of prior consultations and failed to meet the principle of state consent, which is fundamental to arbitration. Therefore, it did not possess the legal basis to proceed from the outset. Second,  the matters raised in the case were beyond the scope of jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal. The essence of the Philippine claims concerned China's territorial sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and maritime delimitation issues. Territorial issues are beyond the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and China had explicitly excluded maritime delimitation from compulsory arbitration in a declaration made in 2006, in accordance with UNCLOS concerning the optional exceptions to the applicability of the U.N. Convention. Third, the tribunal's ruling contained serious factual and legal flaws. In particular, it wrongly classified Taiping Island -- the largest feature in the Nansha Islands with an area of over 500,000 square meters -- as a rock, thereby concluding that no feature in the Nansha Islands could generate an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. This decision contradicts both the facts on the ground and the provisions of the UNCLOS.

We want to emphasize once again that the award of the arbitration is illegal, null and void. China does not accept or participate in the arbitration, nor does it accept or recognize the award, still less any claims or actions based on the award. The arbitration case and the subsequent hype-up were orchestrated and manipulated by forces outside the region, with the aim of disrupting peace in the South China Sea and serving their own interests. By adopting the position it holds, China is upholding the principle of international rule of law and the authority of the UNCLOS.

Thanks to joint efforts by China and ASEAN countries, the situation in the South China Sea remains stable now, with freedom of navigation and overflight effectively protected. China is accelerating consultations with ASEAN countries on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. We urge the Canadian side to respect facts and the law, respect China's sovereignty and rights and interests in the South China Sea, respect the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability, stop saying or doing the things that undermine regional peace and stability, and stop being a trouble maker in the South China Sea.