China angrily vowed to ignore the ruling by a court in The Hague dismissing its claim to much of the South China Sea. Croatia pulled out of an arbitration process in 2015 at the same court that ruled on the South China Sea case, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). But the EU remains concerned by China's militarization of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. European governments are torn over how to respond to China's defeat in a legal battle over the South China Sea, fearful of alienating their second-largest trading partner and hampered by a maritime dispute among their own members. Britain and France have been most vocal in calling on China not to escalate tensions in the area, diplomats say.

Source: Thanhnien News July 14, 2016 16:18 UTC