South China Sea "arbitration award" example of Western lawfare against China: CGTN anchor

The so-called South China Sea "arbitration award" made a decade ago was the product of political manipulation rather than a genuine application of international law, according to China Global Television Network (CGTN) anchor Wang Guan.

On the 10th anniversary of the so-called South China Sea "arbitration award," 14 countries led by the United States and the Philippines issued a joint statement once again, using the "award" to apply pressure to China.

Wang said this playbook has been increasingly recognized by Asian countries, and that regional disputes should be resolved through dialogue among the countries directly concerned, rather than through externally driven "lawfare."

"If there is a territorial dispute, it should be resolved by the countries directly involved. Not outsourced to lawyers. Certainly not outsourced to geopolitics. Yet that's essentially what happened in 2016, when the Philippines, backed politically and legally by some Western powers, sought to use international arbitration in The Hague to undermine China's well-documented historical claims in the South China Sea -- even though the vast majority of countries including China had already declared, under Article 298 of UNCLOS, that disputes involving maritime delimitation and related issues would not be subject to compulsory arbitration," he said.

Wang said the South China Sea is playing a crucial part in global trade, refuting rumors that China restricts navigation in the sea area, as he instead pointed to the situation playing out in the Middle East as a result of the U.S. war on Iran.

"Another argument that now sounds even more ridiculous is the claim that China is somehow blocking freedom of passage in the South China Sea with its growing military presence. I mean, are people mistaking the South China Sea for the Strait of Hormuz? According to Reuters, after renewed U.S. attacks on Iran, only six commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz in a single day, the lowest level in five weeks. That's what disrupted passage looks like," he said.

"Through the South China Sea, some 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars worth of trade passes through freely every year, roughly one-third of global maritime trade, that is according to U.S. think tank CSIS. See, the fear-mongering narrative gets old. Especially when there is a real bully, and a real neo-colonialist power, demonstrating what coercion actually looks like. That's why China, on its 10th anniversary, has once again rejected the so-called 'South China Sea arbitration' – what many in China see as nothing more than lawfare against China – and reaffirmed that these disputes should be resolved directly by China and our ASEAN partners," Wang said.

South China Sea "arbitration award" example of Western lawfare against China: CGTN anchor

Rally participants gathered in the Japanese capital on Aug 9, which also marked the 81st anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, to voice strong opposition to the government's push to boost defense spending and revise the war-renouncing Article 9 of the national Constitution.

Holding anti-war placards, chanting anti-war slogans, protesters warned that remilitarizing the nation would betray its pacifist ideals and endanger future generations.

"Defense spending keeps increasing. Based on Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan pledged never to wage war again, yet it keeps strengthening its military. I find this extremely dangerous. They are also trying to revise Article 9. So I believe that for the sake of future young people and children, Article 9 must never be revised. Japan decided never to repeat the mistakes of waging a war after its defeat in WWII. I think we should continue to safeguard that commitment," said a rally participant.

For many in the crowd, the shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains a powerful moral compass as they believe that militarization offers no path forward for a nation that knows the devastation of war firsthand.

"Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered atomic bombings. Yet now Japan is going to deploy missiles. I believe Japan must never possess nuclear weapons," said another rally participant.

"I believe Japan has no future if it goes down the path of militarization. Nuclear weapons are absolutely bad for Japan," said a third woman, also a rally participant.

Beyond moral objections, some demonstrators said that Japan's economic vulnerabilities articulate that saber-rattling is a luxury the country cannot afford.

"I can't help but wonder what on earth a country with only a 36 percent food self-sufficiency rate would be fighting with. I have always been opposed to war, and I'm deeply dissatisfied with what the Takaichi administration is doing now," said another rally participant.

Other rally participants said that seeing revision of the Constitution could unleash unchecked military expansion, stripping away the very safeguards that have kept Japan at peace for eight decades.

"Article 9 of the Constitution is the key. If the nature of the Self-Defense Forces is elevated to a level beyond collective self-defense, which is explicitly written into the Constitution, it will allow the authority of the Self-Defense Forces to expand without limit. So no matter what, I want to prevent this from happening," said one more rally participant.

Japanese citizens rally against Takaichi's military expansion, constitutional revision