Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/17
By: Tai Ya-chen and Bear Lee
Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) The Republic of China will not accept an imminent 
ruling on the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.
The ministry was responding to a call by U.S. President Barack Obama a day earlier that claimants to the disputed islands in the region should seek solutions through legal means and respect international law.
“Any disputes between claimants must be resolved peacefully through legal means such as the upcoming arbitration ruling under the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Seas, which the parties are obligated to respect and abide by,” Obama said at a press conference held at the end of a meeting between the U.S. and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in California.
“The Republic of China cannot accept the ruling,” since Taiwan was not invited to take part in the arbitration process, nor did the court solicit its opinions during the hearings, said the ministry. [FULL STORY]
