China vows to protect South China Sea sovereignty after ruling

By Ben Blanchard and Martin Petty BEIJING/MANILA (Reuters) - China vowed to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty in the South China Sea and said it had the right to set up an air defence zone, after rejecting an international tribunal's ruling that denied its claims in the region. State media called the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague a "puppet" of external forces, after it ruled that China had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights by endangering its ships and