South China Sea

An international tribunal has ruled against Chinese claims to rights in South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration said there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources.

China described the ruling as "ill-founded".

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others.

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The tribunal in The Hague said China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights. It also said China had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment" by building artificial islands.

§  China's Island Factory

§  Mysteries and maritime claims

§  In pictures: How the ruling affects the livelihood of Filipino fishermen

§  Why is the South China Sea contentious?

§  Flying close to China's new islands

§  Rivalries underneath the South China Sea

The ruling came from an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both countries have signed.

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The ruling is binding but the tribunal, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, has no powers of enforcement.

The US sent an aircraft carrier and fighter jets to the region ahead of the ruling, prompting an angry editorial in the Global Times, a strongly nationalist state-run newspaper, calling for the US to prepare for "military confrontation".

Meanwhile, the Chinese Navy has been carrying out exercises near the disputed Paracel islands.