BEIJING: China and Vietnam have clashed again over competing claims in the South China Sea, after Vietnam submitted its position to an arbitration tribunal initiated by the Philippines over the festering dispute that involves several countries.
China has said repeatedly it will not participate in the case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, branding it an underhand attempt to exert political pressure over territory which is inherently Chinese.
China’s foreign ministry, in a statement released late on Thursday, called on Vietnam to respect China’s sovereignty, which it said had historical basis.
China will not change its position of not taking part in the arbitration, the ministry said.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry said it had submitted its point of view to the court to ensure it pays attention to “our legal rights and interests”.
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai quits tabloid
HONG KONG: Hong Kong publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing, has stepped down as editor-in-chief of the popular Apple Daily after being arrested for refusing to leave a key pro-democracy protest site in the centre of the city.
Hong Kong police arrested nearly 250 activists on Thursday and cleared most of the main protest site near the Central business district, marking an end to more than two months of street demonstrations in the Chinese-controlled city.
Public broadcaster RTHK said on Friday all of those arrested, including Lai, had been released.
Lai, a self-made millionaire, has been the main financial patron of the pro-democracy movement since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to Communist Party rulers in China.
Agencies
