lurking behind China’s contempt of both the Philippines’ case and increased U.S. support for its long time mutual defense treaty partner and former Commonwealth is a disdain for U.S. hegemony.
The Chinese government has created a no-win situation for itself in the South China Sea from which there will be little retreat.
Hong reiterated that the Arbitration Court has no jurisdiction over the case nor the subject-matter, and that it should not have heard the case or rendered the award.

He added that by unilaterally initiating the so-called “international arbitration,” the Philippines ignored the common understanding that China and the Philippines had reached on solving the disputes through negotiations, and its commitments under the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea.

The problem, however, with that assertion is that Beijing has never agreed to a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, per that agreement, and has only recently used it for renunciation of the Philippines’ case.

Disadvantaged China

On Friday, China’s hawks came out for their take on the matter. An op-ed in the Beijing-based Global Times, which often expresses the view of China’s Communist Party (CCP), said that “China has been in a disadvantaged position since the arbitration case was filed by the Philippines in 2013, while Manila is playing the sympathy card, and the Western world keeps propagating the spirit of law in the case, and denouncing China for flouting the tribunal.”

“Their narrative has managed to distort the true image of the case, which is actually a trap schemed by the US, led by the Philippines, and coordinated by the tribunal,” the article added.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/07/01/beijing-says-south-china-sea-case-trap-schemed-by-u-s/2/#578159d01e46