People are boycotting KFC and smashing iPhones across China, in response to an unfavourable international ruling over the bitterly disputed South China Sea.

Chinese nationalism and anti-US sentiment has been stoked, with Colonel Sanders and Steve Jobs prime targets for apparently being figureheads of American imperialism.

A group of students bashing and stomping on their iPhones, a hugely popular product in China, has been shared to Chinese social media site Weibo.

One user posted a video and wrote: "Take out your iPhone. If you don't smash it, you aren't Chinese!"

KFC outlets across a dozen cities have been fronted by picket lines with protesters calling for a boycott of all-American staple fried chicken, The New York Times reports.

One large banner rolled out across an outlet read: "What you eat is KFC. What is lost is the face of our ancestors".

State-owned broadcaster Xinhua has called on its citizens to restore "normal social order" and not engage in the "wrongful destruction" of KFC and Apple products.

Terms such as "South China Sea" and "KFC" have been censored on the internet in recent days, according to research firm Weiboscope, in an attempt by the government to cautiously keep a lid on further protests.

Although China might want to stop the beatings of Apple iPhones and protect the right of KFC to operate, it has emphatically rejected The Hague's ruling on the South China Sea.

Last Friday the tribunal concluded China had no historic claim to the waters and that it had violated the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights.

Xinhua immediately reported China "does not accept and does not recognise" the decision.

"No matter what kind of ruling is to be made, Chinese armed forces will firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and maritime interests and rights, firmly uphold regional peace and stability, and deal with all kinds of threats and challenges," China's Defence Ministry said before the ruling was made public.