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Australia says China should respect ruling
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Protesters display their message during a rally outside of the Chinese Consulate hours before the Hague-based UN international arbitration tribunal is to announce its ruling on South China Sea July 12 in Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. (AP/Bullit Marquez)
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ustralian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Wednesday that China's reputation and ambitions of becoming a world leader would suffer if it ignored the South China Sea ruling.
Bishop called on all parties to respect the ruling, which she described as final and legally binding.
"To ignore it would be a serious international transgression," Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "There would be strong reputational costs."
Bishop said she expected to speak with her counterparts in China and the Philippines in coming days and expected the ruling to be discussed at the upcoming ASEAN and East Asia Summit meetings in mid-July.
She said Australian ships and aircraft would continue to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight rights but refused to comment on specific details.
