China’s refusal to recognize the arbitral ruling on the South China Sea would not deter President Duterte from invoking the landmark decision during his visit to China this month, Malacañang said yesterday. The 2016 arbitral ruling by a Hague-based court invalidated China’s expansive maritime claim in the South China Sea and upheld the Philippines’ rights over its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Duterte has vowed to bring up the ruling when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month. Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua has stressed that China, which claims virtually the entire South China Sea, would not recognize the ruling.

Romero, A., Romero, P., Flores, H., & Cervantes, D. (2019, August 12). Duterte bent on raising SCS ruling with Xi. The Philippine Star, p. 4.