London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

China hits back after Canada wades into Hague ruling row

China hits back after Canada wades into Hague ruling row

China continues to reject 2016 Hague ruling which dismissed its claims to the region.
China has warned against “further damage” to its relationship with Canada and to regional peace and stability after Ottawa urged Beijing to abide by a five-year-old ruling rejecting most of its South China Sea claims.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in Canada hit back at Ottawa, saying Beijing had undeniable sovereignty rights in the South and East China Seas irrespective of what was said at a tribunal in 2016.

The embassy said the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to deny China’s historic title over the waters was “illegal”.

It urged Canada to “stop provoking and causing trouble on maritime-related issues, respect China’s sovereignty and rights and interests in the relevant maritime areas, and not to go further and further down the wrong path so as not to cause further damage to China-Canada relations as well as regional peace and stability.”

The Chinese statement followed a Canadian foreign ministry call for China to live up to its commitment in the South China Sea. Canada spoke out on July 11 to mark the fifth anniversary of the ruling made on July 12, 2016.

“Canada is particularly concerned by China’s escalatory and destabilising actions in the East and South China Seas, including, recently, off the Philippine coast, and by the militarisation of disputed features and the use of naval, coastguard and maritime militia vessels to intimidate and threaten the ships of other states,” the ministry said.

The Chinese embassy responded saying the arbitral tribunal had exceeded its powers and its 2016 decision “was illegal and invalid”. The statement also said China’s sovereignty and rights and interests in the South China Sea were “in no way affected by the ruling, nor does China accept any claims or actions based on it”.

It also said the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea – known as the Senkakus in Japan – were “an inseparable part of China’s territory, and it is Japan that is constantly stirring up trouble and undermining regional stability”.

China’s sovereignty and rights in the South and East China Seas were undeniable, the statement said.

Although largely uninhabited, islands in the region are thought to have a wealth of natural resources nearby. The area is also a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds supplying the livelihood of many people.

Canada was one of several countries to mark the fifth anniversary of the historic court ruling by publicly urging China to comply with international law. That triggered orchestrated responses by Chinese diplomatic missions abroad.

The Chinese embassy in British denied a report that China’s coastguards and fishing boats were harassing Philippine fishing vessels. It also said it was against international law to deny “the legitimate rights accumulated over a thousand years the Chinese fishermen enjoy in the fishing grounds in the Spratly Islands”.

The Chinese embassy in Canberra urged Australia to “stop political manipulation” over the South China Sea issue.

On July 11, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Beijing to “abide by its obligations under international law [and] cease its provocative behaviour” in the South China Sea.

The Chinese embassy statement from Ottawa also accused Washington of “intensifying tensions” in the waters.

“No one should underestimate the strong determination, firm will and powerful ability of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Every inch of China’s territory absolutely cannot and will never be partitioned from China,” it said.

In March, Canada sent a warship near the disputed Spratly Islands claimed by China and the Philippines.

Beijing and Ottawa are also locked in a dispute over the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and China’s arrest of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×