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An international tribunal yesterday ruled China has no right to more than a million square miles of territory it claims in the South China Sea.

Now Beijing, which has built artificial islands in the disputed area to defend its claim, has pledged to protect its claim by whatever means necessary.

Citizens of the communist state are even calling for war, taking to the national intranet and demanding action against America, which is perceived to be responsible.

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It's a view the authorities share, having repeatedly blamed the US for its territorial dispute with Vietnam, The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

The ruling Communist Party of China pledged today on the front of its official People's Daily newspaper to defy the findings of the tribunal.

"China will take all necessary measures to protect its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," the article said.

State-owned media also dismissed the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, which handed down the ruling, a "puppet".

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said Beijing could establish an air protection zone over the territory.

"If our security is being threatened, of course we have the right to demarcate a zone," he said. "This would depend on our overall assessment,"

"We hope other countries will not take this opportunity to threaten China, but work with us to protect the peace and stability of the sea, and not let it become the origin of a war."

In the wake of the dispute, an article called "War in the South China Sea starts tonight" received more than 100,000 views, before being deleted by the authorities.

Referencing the dotted line that marks out China's claim on the map, a meme went viral on social media saying "China: We can’t lose even one dot."

Another delete posts on Weibo, China's answer to Facebook, predicted war and added: "I was so damn excited last night that I couldn’t sleep!”

One more, found by Foreign Policy magazine, said: "[This] is an insult to China. Why would we wait for the result for this kind of crap?

"With such a large military, why don’t we just go fight to get back [what is ours]?"

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China claims some 90% of the South China Sea, approximately 1,260,000 square miles of territory.

The sea is believed to hold a wealth of untapped oil and gas reserves, and trillions of dollars of trade pass through it.

The Hague ruled that the rocky outcrops claimed by China, some of which are submerged at high tide, cannot be used to extend his territory.

It found some of the area claimed rightly belongs to the Philippines who sovereign rights were infringed upon by China use of artificial islands.