Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

The Chinese government issued a White Paper in response to The Hague's arbitration, which stressed that China is firm in upholding its sovereignty over the Nanhai Zhudao or South China Sea Islands and their surrounding waters.

It said that Chinese people have been operating in the area for more than two thousand years, adding that the country was the first to have discovered, named, explored and exploited the islands and its surrounding waters.

It said that China was also the first to have exercised sovereignty and jurisdiction over the area, and it has spared no efforts to settle relevant disputes with the Philippines through negotiations in accordance with international law. But, it insists, territorial land issues are not regulated by UNCLOS.

Thus, the territorial issue in Nansha Qundao is not subject to the body. The paper said China will not accept any means of dispute settlement imposed on it, nor would it accept any recourse to a third-party settlement.