"Because it would complete the so-called strategic triangle that could finally establish full control over the South China Sea, and they would know that the US and Japan will not allow that to happen easily".

Commander of the Chinese Navy Adm. Wu Shengli, right, points out the layout of the Chinese Navy Headquarters to visiting U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, left, in Beijing, Monday, July 18, 2016.

"Under no circumstance will the arbitration award exert any impact on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea", Li added.

Half of the 10 ASEAN countries have some sort of South China Sea dispute with Beijing, but China's ally Cambodia said it does not want the bloc to mention the ruling. "Of course, it can help to improve our working and personal relationship", said Adm Wu.

State media reported that China held military drills in the South China Sea just days before the worldwide arbitration court ruling.

Beijing will close off access to part of the South China Sea for military drills, officials said Monday, after an global tribunal ruled against its sweeping claims in the waters.

China has repeatedly blamed the United States for stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.

The Philippines will fight for its landmark arbitration victory to be upheld when it talks about resolving its South China Sea disputes with China, which has refused to recognize the ruling, the government lawyer said Friday.

China rejected the recent Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling, insisting this is sovereign territory and a 12-nautical mile territorial limit applies. The softer approach, adopted by new Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, runs in stark contrast to the rancor that characterized relations between China and the Philippines under his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III.

General Luo rejected this argument, saying the South China Sea was "like a dispute over property".

If so, how? And what might happen the next time the United States stages a Freedom of Navigation patrol in the South China Sea. The navy and Defence Ministry had no immediate comment.

On Monday, Beijing also stated that it would not halt the construction on islands and reefs in the South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua reported the head of the country's navy as saying, adding that China will not leave the outcropping that is under construction and half finished.

Earlier in the day, China's maritime administration announced that Beijing will close off access to part of the South China Sea for military drills.

The Hague-based court ruled that China's claims under the so-called "nine-dash line" violates the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which sets a country's maritime boundaries 22 kilometers from its coast, and control over economic activities up to 370 kilometers from its coast.

The South China Sea is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, believed to be sitting atop huge oil and gas deposits, but Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also consider some of the region's waters, islands and reefs to be their territory.