Quotable

"No foreign country ... should expect us to swallow the bitter pill of harm to our national sovereignty, security or development interests."

President Xi Jinping, in a speech at the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China

"The final award of the arbitration ... amounts to nothing more than a piece of paper."

Dai Bingguo, former State councilor

"China hopes that the United States will keep its promise of not taking any position on territorial disputes and play a constructive role toward peace and stability in the South China Sea."

Yang Jiechi, State councilor

"The Chinese people firmly believe that we own those land features and have done so since ancient times."

Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s top legislature

"If this arbitration goes through, it will set a very bad example. That concern has been expressed not only by Chinese legal experts, but also by British and Dutch experts on the law of the sea."

Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the UK