BEIJING, 12 Jul (ANA) - Chinese authorities have vowed to ignore a court ruling blocking highly contested military expansion in the South China Sea, setting the world's most populous nation on a collision course with its nearest neighbours and the international community. A tribunal in the Hague found Beijing has no historic claim over the disputed waters, which are oil-rich and strategically vital to China's growing naval ambitions. Judges at the Netherlands-based court ruled China had breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines, which also claims rights over the territory. Defiant Beijing officials dismissed the ruling and said it was pushing ahead with the building of two new airports in the disputed Spratly Islands. A guided missile destroyer stationed at a naval base on the southern island province of Hainan has also been newly commissioned, which has responsibility for the South China Sea, Beijing officials said. Security experts have warned that the landmark ruling could spark a bitter war of words, and the possibility of increasingly aggressive actions on both sides. Singapore-based researcher Ian Storey said: "China will respond with fury, certainly in terms of rhetoric and possibly through more aggressive actions at sea." Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have all made claims over parts of the South China Sea, but Beijing's leaders have been resolute in their plans to create new military bases in the region.

The five-judge panel said China has no "historic title" over the waters, that China has interfered with traditional Philippines fishing rights and that China's actions have aggravated its conflict with the Philippines at a time it was meant to be resolving them. But China's Foreign Ministry rejected today's ruling, saying its people had more than 2,000 years of history in the South China Sea. The United States and China often conduct military exercises in the area and regularly accuse each other of militarising the region. Beijing's brazen response could lead to a ratcheting up of tensions, senior military and diplomatic figures have warned. They say the US and other nations would have little choice but to respond with possibly enlarged and multinational maritime and aerial missions.

The ruling comes as Beijing embarks on a high-tech ship building programme which could leave many of America's older vessels obsolete in any future maritime conflict. According to a US Congressional report, China is likely to have increased its total ship tally to more than 350 by 2020. That would dwarf the US Navy's current total of 272 deployable battle force ships. However China's air-sea power is still lacking with just one aircraft carrier, compared to the US' 14.(ANA)

FA/ANA/12 July 2016--------