Chinese in the Netherlands protest against South China Sea verdict

A number of Chinese living in the Netherlands gathered in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague on Friday to protest against the recent ill-founded ruling on the South China Sea.

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“We are shocked and furious about the so-called verdict on the South China Sea issue rendered on Tuesday by the ad hoc arbitral tribunal. Chinese communities across the Netherlands decided to stage a protest to clarify our position,” said Huang Yue, head of the Chinese Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in the Netherlands.

More than 500 Chinese joined the protest, said Huang, also one of the organizers of the protest, adding that the protest was carried out in an orderly manner.

He explained that the protest in the Netherlands is important as it is where the verdict was delivered. “We, as part of Chinese communities around the globe, must have our voices heard by the world,” Huang stressed.

Che Luyao, one of the protesters, pointed out that China has excluded compulsory settlement procedures from maritime delimitation disputes in accordance with Article 298 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but that the Aquino administration filed its ungrounded suit by packaging its claims with various untruths.

The provisional arbitral tribunal established as a result has breached the regulations stipulated in UNCLOS as it has no rights to make decisions on China’s territorial and maritime rights, she noted, adding that the verdict rendered by such a tribunal has no authority, credibility, effectiveness and binding force at all.

Che, who was in the Netherlands for a three-week study on international law, said that as a case reference in the class, Che and a Philippine teacher debated on the so-called verdict. Though the  Philippine teacher defended his country’s position, but could not give a clear answer when questioned about the legitimacy of the tribunal as well the facts of the arbitration.

“I think he was embarrassed as it was hard for him to provide an explanation concerning this ridiculous arbitration,” Che said.

Peter, a local man whose wife is Chinese, also expressed his support of China and the protest, saying that it is necessary for the Netherlands and the rest of the world to know the truth behind the case, the man said, waving the Chinese and Dutch national flags.

His wife, whose surname is Liang, added that local people in the Netherlands are unclear about the facts of the case as they have been blinded by Western media.

“Chinese communities should do more to bring the real facts to our foreign friends,” Liang said.

By Xu Liqun, Wu Gang from the People’s Daily