The Communist Party of China has reacted to the call of warmongers within its ranks to attack the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea by getting its rubber stamp Supreme People's Court (SPC) to reaffirm China's jurisdiction over the South China Sea.

The Chinese supreme court issued a regulation of judicial interpretation to clarify China's jurisdiction over its territorial seas, including the South China Sea, which an international tribunal said China has no legal claim to. It also warned all foreigners of criminal liability for violating China's sovereignty. The regulation took effect Aug.1.

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The SPC regulation subverts the legally binding award to the Philippines by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. It seeks to justify China's continued defiance of international law by providing an alleged legal basis for China to safeguard maritime order, marine safety and interests and to exercise integrated management over the country's jurisdictional seas.

The regulation says Chinese citizens and foreigners will be pursued with criminal liability if they engage in illegal hunting or fishing, or killing endangered wildlife in China's jurisdictional seas.

The regulation was President Xi Jinping's strongest reaction yet to China's humiliating defeat at the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12. It fell far short of strident demands by hardliners within the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that China "give them (the U.S.) a bloody nose like Deng Xiaoping did to Vietnam in 1979." One source said the People's Liberation Army is ready for war.

The analogy to the 1979 war was inappropriate since the Sino-Vietnamese War from February to March 1979 was a humiliating defeat for China. Relying mainly on its vastly outnumbered but battle hardened peasant militia, Vietnam inflicted 26,000 casualties (8,500 killed) on the PLA. Chinese state-run media, however, portrayed the defeat as a great victory for China.

Xi, however, has resisted mounting calls for China to attack the U.S. Navy, the Philippines and Vietnam. He has supported the call for a peaceful resolution of tension through talks while promising to defend Chinese territory.

China will host the G20 summit from Sept. 4-5 in Hangzhou, and this high-profile gathering of the world's richest economies is preventing Xi from taking military action before the summit takes place.

Some Western military analysts believe the best time for Chinese military action against the U.S. and its Asian allies would be after the summit but before the U.S. presidential elections on Nov.4.

TagsCommunist Party of China, Supreme People's Court, Permanent Court of Arbitration, South China Sea, People's Liberation Army, Sino-Vietnamese War