On June 25, 2016, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China issued a joint declaration on the promotion of international law. According to an analysis of the declaration, it “represents a defensive political document,” which counters the criticism that both countries have ignored and violated international law in recent years, some of which has centered around Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and China’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea. The declaration describes the two countries’ understanding of the global legal order and addresses issues such as state sovereignty, the use of force, and terrorism. Both express their “full[] support [for] the principle of non-intervention in the internal or external affairs of States, and condemn as a violation of this principle any interference by States in the internal affairs of other States with the aim of forging change of legitimate governments.” The declaration also states that they “share the view that good faith implementation of generally recognized principles and rules of international law excludes the practice of double standards or imposition by some States of their will on other States, and consider that imposition of unilateral coercive measures not based on international law, also known as ’unilateral sanctions’, is an example of such practice.” Both parties further “emphasize the important role of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in maintaining the rule of law relating to activities in the Oceans,” and stress that “[i]t is of utmost importance that the provisions of this universal treaty are applied consistently, in such a manner that does not impair rights and legitimate interests of States Parties and does not compromise the integrity of the legal regime established by the Convention.”