Pointing fingers from ten thousand kilometers away, the British Empire hasn't yet given up its old habit of interfering globally.

Lately, the Philippines has rallied 13 countries to revive the South China Sea arbitration ruling that was already ruled invalid a decade ago. This time, they've gone even further—14 countries jointly issued a statement to commemorate the so-called ruling decision.

Notably, among these 14 countries, except for the Philippines, all are largely irrelevant nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. Meanwhile, all neighboring countries with actual claims over South China Sea islands and maritime areas—including Vietnam and Malaysia—have refused to follow suit or express support.

In other words, this statement is merely an internal rallying cry within the U.S. alliance circle and does not reflect genuine regional demands. Attempting to package an illegal ruling into a so-called "international consensus" is inherently absurd and far-fetched.

Recently, China's Embassy in the UK launched criticism against the UK's involvement in this matter.

The embassy spokesperson stated that the UK is not a party to the dispute and has no right whatsoever to comment on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

It should be noted that Britain itself consistently refuses to accept third-party international compulsory arbitration in multiple overseas territorial disputes, such as those involving Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, insisting instead on historical legal grounds and actual control. At the same time, as a contracting state to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the UK has never invoked the convention’s compulsory arbitration mechanism in its own maritime disputes.

Yet this time, it proactively joined the joint statement, using an overreaching ruling to accuse China’s South China Sea sovereignty claims of being non-compliant—effectively establishing one set of rules for itself while demanding others adhere to another standard. The hypocrisy is glaringly obvious. Moreover, the UK lies over ten thousand kilometers away from the South China Sea, with no historical ties or core domestic navigational interests, and thus has absolutely no legitimate geostrategic basis for intervention.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870578808120320/

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