China continues to stand its ground on its territorial claims over disputed areas in the South China Sea as it rejected the ruling of an arbitration court in Netherlands that it has jurisdiction to hear the claims of the Philippines. Filipino authorities filed the case against China in The Hague-based court in 2013.

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The Chinese government has boycotted the entire proceedings and disputed the court's jurisdiction over the case as well as its ruling.

"The result of this arbitration will not impact China's sovereignty, rights or jurisdiction over the South China Sea under historical facts and international law," Vice Foreign Minister Lou Zhenmin Liu said.

Manila filed the case in 2013 before the Netherlands court seeking a ruling on its right to exploit the South China Sea waters in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as allowed under the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration found that it had authority to hear the seven cases the Philippines filed against China. The court rules that China's refusal to participate in the proceedings and recognize the it's authority "did not deprive the court of jurisdiction."

Liu said based on the Philippines' presentation, its goal reportedly was not to resolve the dispute but to assert its own claims in the South China Sea and deny the rights of China to protect its sovereignty over the disputed waters.

China has become the focus of international scrutiny over its assertiveness in the South China Sea. It has dismissed the claims of other nations including the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam  and continues to assert its sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea..

The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, welcomed the decision. Just this week, a US warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of China's artificial  island on the Subi Reef - thereby bringing the country's territorial claims into question.

"Today's ruling is an important step forward in upholding international law against China's attempts to assert vast and, in my view, questionable claims in the South China Sea," said John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate's armed services committee 

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