The Chinese people have been expressing their support for their government's stance in the South China Sea issue and voicing anger at the ruling in the arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the Philippines.

Since the ruling was issued at 5 pm on July 12, the hottest topics on Sina Weibo, a popular social media platform, have been the ruling itself and speculation on a China-United States confrontation.

The topic called "South China Sea arbitration" had received more than 1 billion hits as of 5 pm on July 13, and similar topics focusing on the arbitration had received several billion hits. A Sina Weibo user named "Liweiminlushi", or Lawyer Li Weimin, said in a post on July 12 that China's territorial sovereignty and maritime sovereignty do not fall under the international tribunal's jurisdiction, and "China's territory can not be reduced by even 1 centimeter".

The topic has also swept over other social media platforms. Commenting on Foreign Minister Wang Yi's speech on July 12 over the ruling, a WeChat user called "Yu" said: "It's the Chinese people's responsibility to guard over China's territorial sovereignty."

In a recent Global Times newspaper poll of 1,423 people aged 18 and older in seven Chinese cities as well as in Hainan province, 88 percent supported the Chinese government's stance of not participating, accepting or acknowledging the arbitration case.

Sixty percent said they believed that the US is behind the arbitration case, and the case "constitutes severe threats to regional peace and stability" and "is a violation of China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea".

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/15/2016 page7)