In the new policy paper, China asserts its sovereignty over South China Sea islands and their surrounding waters and opposes other countries' "illegal claims and occupation." China blamed the Philippines for stirring up trouble and issued a policy paper Wednesday calling the islands in the South China Sea its "inherent territory," a day after an international tribunal said China had no legal basis for its expansive claims. Australian 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. The Philippines, under a U.N. treaty governing the seas, sought arbitration from an international tribunal on several issues related to its long-running territorial disputes with China. "It is the Philippines that has created and stirred up the trouble," Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said in introducing the paper.

Source: Fox News July 13, 2016 04:36 UTC