US urges countries not to engage in provocative actions in SCS

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in its order invalidated China's expansive sea claims surrounding disputed areas of the South China Sea.

In 2013, the Philippines challenged China's attempts to establish control over an area encompassing nearly 90 per cent of the South China Sea.

China has refused to accept or implement the order.

"We certainly would encourage all parties to acknowledge the final and binding nature of this tribunal. We certainly would urge all parties not to use this as an opportunity to engage in escalatory or provocative actions," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday while travelling with US President Barack Obama to Dallas.

Earnest said the US was not a claimant to any land features in the South China Sea.

"Our interest lies in a desire for a peaceful resolution to disputes and competing claims in that region," he said.

Earnest said the US wanted to preserve the freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in that region of the world.

Noting that the South China Sea is a strategically important region of the world, he said, it is also is a route for billions of dollars in commerce.

"It is important to the US economy that that flow of commerce not be significantly disrupted. That's why we have gone to great lengths to make clear that we're not a claimant, Earnest said.

"We're not taking sides in the claims, but we do strongly urge all parties with relevant claims - many of which are competing - to resolve their differences peacefully and through established processes like arbitration," he said.

State Department Spokesman John Kirby said if China failed to abide by the ruling, it would be in breach of international law.

"The world is watching now to see what these claimants will do. The world is watching to see if China is really the global power it professes itself to be and the responsible power that it professes itself to be. The world's watching this," Kirby said.

"I understand that the Chinese have made an argument that they're not going to abide by it. I've heard that loud and clear. But that doesn't change the fact that it's still a legally binding obligation. It is the world's expectation that China will abide by its obligations under this legally binding decision," he said in response to a question.

Daniel J Kritenbrink, Senior Director for Asian Affairs, National Security Council at the White House said the US believed that claimants in the South China Sea can and should use the Tribunal's decision as a new opportunity to renew efforts to address their maritime disputes peacefully.