New Delhi | Jul 19, 2016: The ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague on the South China Sea dispute in favour of the Philippines may have come as a setback for China but it will not stop Beijing from continuing with its quest for maritime hegemony in the region.

According to foreign policy expert Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee, China is trying to further its maritime ambitions under the guise of exploring for rare earth minerals, gold and natural gas through its deep sea submersibles Dayang 1, Jialong, Qianlong and Hailong.

"But the fact of the matter is China only has passive technology for deep sea mining (meaning it has the equipment but it has only been tested overground and not the under the sea)," Bhattacharjee said.

While China virtually holds the monopoly in exports of rare earth minerals, it has reported finds of gold deposits off the east China coast and in southwest Indian Ocean, the exploration contract for which it has got from the International Seabed Authority.

"Only India and South Korea have the active technology for deep sea mining," Bhattacharjee said.

(Source: http://www.thehansindia.com/)