China today escalated its condemnation of the ruling by a UN-backed tribunal that struck down its “historical rights” over the South China Sea, issuing a “white paper” that asserted its claims over the strategic region and accused the Philippines of illegally occupying its territory.

The White Paper said the core of the relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea lies in the territorial issues caused by the Philippines’ invasion and illegal occupation, starting in the 1970s, of some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao (the Nansha Islands).

“The Philippines has concocted many excuses to cover up this fact, and to pursue its territorial pretencions,” said the document, titled ‘China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.’

The Philippines’ relevant claim is groundless from the perspectives of either history or international law, said the white paper issued by the State Council Information Office.

The document asserted that China has claims over the South China Sea for 2,000 years and the Philippines, which had filed the petition before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, was occupying Chinese territory.

It attacked the Philippines for turning “a blind eye to bilateral consensus”, saying Manila has repeatedly taken moves that complicate the relevant disputes, gradually intensified them between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

In a major diplomatic blow to China, the tribunal working under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) struck down the Communist giant’s claims in the strategic waters yesterday.

The Hague-based court said China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights. It said China has caused “severe harm to the coral reef environment” by building artificial islands.

China has often accused the US for fomenting trouble in the South China Sea, through which USD 3 trillion of trade passes annually and where Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have rival claims to the waters.

The white paper said with the development of the international law of the sea, a maritime delimitation dispute also arose between China and the Philippines regarding certain maritime areas of the South China Sea.

The Philippines built military facilities on some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao (the Nansha Islands/Spratly islands) it invaded and illegally occupied and deliberately destroyed survey markers set up by China, it said adding that Manila attempted to illegally occupy China’s Ren’ai Jiao by using a military vessel illegally run around it.PTI

Rio-bound Indian sprinter Dutee Chand today said she is working hard to improve her speed endurance so that she doesn’t taper off in the last 40 metres of the 100m event during next month’s Olympics.

“I am too good in first 60 meters, but my speeds slows down in the last 40 meters dash. I agree. I have to improve on my speed endurance, and I am working on it. Ramesh sir is giving lot of attention on it and I am also reciprocating it,” she told reporters.

Dutee became the first Indian woman athlete in 36 years to qualify for 100 metres race in an Olympics after legendary P T Usha competed in the blue-riband event in the 1980 Moscow Games.

Asked whether she is better placed than Usha to win an Olympic medal, Dutee said it is not easy because the level of performances of athletes have improved over the years.

“It is not easy to win the medal because times have changed, and there is a lot of competition, besides athletes’ performances have been improving over the years,” she said.

Dutee said her rivalry with Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Zyabkina, a semifinalist at World championship in Beijing last year, at the Kosanov memorial athletics meet in Kazakhstan, has done a world of good to her ahead of the mega event.

“I did not face any competition from any sprinter in India. Running against Viktoriya has helped me a lot,” she said.

N Ramesh, coach of Dutee, praised the Odisha sprinter, saying she has the fighting spirit of a lioness, which stems from the hardships she faced in various stages of life, including the harsh ban imposed on her for having higher level of testosterone than was permissible in a woman athlete.

“She is like a lioness. The good the competition, the better is her performance. She has been bettering her performance from the junior level till the international competition where she qualified for Rio Olympics.

“That is her range. So, wherever she goes she fights like a lioness,” Ramesh told reporters.

Ramesh was in the city along with Dutee to attend meet-the-press event held by Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences here.PTI

The Supreme Court today termed it a tragedy that Manipur is facing internal disturbance from past six decades but made it clear that it was “not akin to a war-like situation” in this north eastern state.

The Centre’s view in opposing any investigation into the alleged extra-judicial killings that a war-like situation was prevailing in Manipur did not go well with a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Uday Umesh Lalit which rejected it saying Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi’s submission was nothing but a “play on words”.

The AG had opposed any investigation or inquiry into the alleged extra-judicial killings contending that a war-like situation has been and is prevailing in Manipur.

“The submission of the Attorney General is nothing but a play on words and we reject it and hold that an internal disturbance is not equivalent to or akin to a war-like situation and proceed on the basis that there is no war or war-like situation in Manipur but only an internal disturbance, within the meaning of that expression in the Constitution – nothing more and nothing less,” the bench said.

It also said there was no doubt from the case records that Manipur has been facing a “public order situation equivalent to an internal disturbance” and “the tragedy is that this situation has continued since 1958 for almost 60 years”.

The court said when it had asked the counsel for Manipur to place before it the declarations under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 of the CrPC, only recent declarations and prohibitory orders were produced and the rest have been lost in antiquity.

“A generation or two has gone by and issues have festered for decades. It is high time that concerted and sincere efforts are continuously made by the four stakeholders civil society in Manipur, insurgents, the State of Manipur and the Government of India to find a lasting and peaceful solution to the festering problem, with a little consideration from all quarters. It is never too late to bring peace and harmony in society,” it observed.

Making it clear that the situation in Manipur has “never been one of a war or an external aggression or an armed rebellion that threatens the security of the country or a part thereof”, the bench said no such declaration has been made by the Centre, “explicitly or even implicitly”.

“Nothing has been shown to us that would warrant a conclusion that there is a war or an external aggression or an armed rebellion in Manipur,” it said.PTI