Japan and the United States have urged China to respect the ruling of an international tribunal rejecting its expansive claims in the South China Sea, as Monday marked five years since the landmark decision that the Communist-led government has refused to accept.
On the same day, China's military criticized the United States for sending a warship into waters around the disputed, Beijing-claimed Paracel Islands in the sea — a strategic waterway through which more than one-third of global trade passes.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in a statement released Monday that China's failure to comply with the ruling "undermines the rule of law as a fundamental value of the international community."