2016年7月26日，英国主流大报《金融时报》纸质版和网络版同时刊登驻英国大使刘晓明题为《中国决不接受所谓仲裁庭裁决结果》的署名信函，全文如下：

On 26 July, the Financial Times and its website published a signed letter by Ambassador Liu Xiaoming entitled "China will never accept so-called arbitral ruling". The full text is as follows:

7月13日，贵报发表了题为《北京在南海问题上面临巨大考验》的社论，无端指责中国破坏国际法，呼吁结成"国际统一战线"，要在G20等各种场合对华施压，让中国为拒绝仲裁庭裁决结果"付出代价"。我愿重申，中方坚决反对菲律宾单方面非法提起的南海仲裁案，决不承认所谓仲裁结果。

Sir, your editorial "A big test for Beijing over the South China Sea" (July 13) accuses China of sabotaging international law, called for "a united front" to press China at the G20 summit and make China pay the "hefty costs" for rejecting the arbitration ruling. I hereby reiterate that China is firmly opposed to the South China Sea arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines and will never accept the so-called ruling.

一、中国不承认仲裁结果是维护国际法的权威。南海仲裁案仲裁庭打着《联合国海洋法公约》的幌子审理争议，干的却是完全违反《公约》的勾当。特别需要指出的是，仲裁庭擅自扩权、滥权。菲律宾前政府提起仲裁事项的实质是领土主权与海洋划界问题，而领土主权问题不属于《公约》调整范围。2006年中国政府根据《公约》298条款，已声明将涉及海洋划界等方面的争端排除出《公约》强制争端解决程序。因此，仲裁庭裁决结果严重侵犯了中国的领土主权和海洋权益，严重损害了国际法的信誉和权威。

First, China does not acknowledge that the arbitral ruling is safeguarding the primacy of law. In the name of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) dispute settlement, the tribunal's operation was totally against the provisions of the Convention. An example of this is the tribunal's self-expansion of power and ultra vires. The nature of the arbitration initiated by the former Philippine government boils down to disagreements over territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. Territorial issues are beyond the purview of UNCLOS, and issues of maritime delimitation have been excluded by the declaration that China made in 2006 under Article 298 of UNCLOS. The arbitral ruling not only severely infringed upon China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, but also severely violated the credibility and authority of international law.