US President Brack Obama yesterday warned Beijing it could not ignore a tribunal's ruling rejecting its sweeping claims to the South China Sea, driving tensions higher in a territorial row that threatens regional security. "The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped to clarify maritime rights in the region," Obama told the Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in Laos. The verdict by an international tribunal in The Hague said China's claims to most of the waters - through which $5 trillion in the global shipping trade.

'Tribunal ruling binding': Obama says arbitral verdict helped clarifyng maritime rights in the region. (2016, September 9). Manila Bulletin, pp. 1, 13.