China adheres to settling S. China Sea disputes th...

China's State Council Information Office has released a white paper, titled 'China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea', after an arbitration tribunal made its ruling on the issue.

The ruling did not take into account China's stance of non-acceptance of and non-participation in the arbitration.

CHINA FIRM ON STANCE OVER DIALOGUE

In the white paper, China has reiterated its commitment to settling territorial disputes through negotiations and dialogue. Since its founding, the People’s Republic of China has signed boundary treaties with 12 of its 14 land neighbors through bilateral negotiations and consultations in a spirit of equality and mutual understanding, according to the white paper, and about 90 percent of China’s land boundaries have been delimited and demarcated.

“Negotiation directly reflects the will of states… Only when an agreement is reached by parties concerned through negotiation on an equal footing can a dispute be settled once and for all,” the white paper adds.

The white paper also outlines the two countries’ disputes in recent years concerning territorial issues in the South China Sea, which, according to the document, are not subject to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

“…the Philippines has violated China’s right to choose means of dispute settlement of its own will as a state party to UNCLOS…the Philippines has abused the UNCLOS dispute settlement procedures,” the white paper reads.

The document also makes clear that the essence of the subject matter of the arbitration initiated unilaterally by the Philippines is an issue of territorial sovereignty over certain islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands. The white paper goes on to detail how the Philippines initiated the arbitration in 2013, after years of its infringement of China’s maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, though an agreement signed over a decade earlier had set the precedent of settling territorial disputes through negotiations.

According to the white paper, the Philippines has taken measures that complicated the disputes since the 1980s. However, there had been no territorial or maritime delimitation disputes between the two states until the 1970s.

The white paper describes how at that time the peoples of the two countries had enjoyed friendly relations as they faced each other across the sea, and both nations also had closely engaged in exchanges to promote joint development. Furthermore, China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea islands had never been challenged previously during the 20th century.

In November 2002, China and the ten ASEAN member states, including the Philippines, signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), in which the countries made commitments to settling territorial disputes through negotiations between the sovereign states directly concerned. 

In unilaterally initiating the arbitration without involving China the white paper says that the Philippines, as a signatory country of the DOC, also broke the terms of its existing agreement with China.

“By this agreement, they have chosen to settle the relevant disputes through negotiation and to exclude any third party procedure, including arbitration,” explains the white paper.

DOES UNCLOS HAVE JURISDICTION?

The white paper recalls that in 2006 China made a declaration of optional exceptions pursuant to Article 298 of UNCLOS, excluding the country from compulsory dispute settlement procedures concerning, among others, sovereignty and maritime delimitation. 

According to the paper, about 30 states, including China, made such exceptions, forming an integral part of the UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanism.

The white paper argues that it is clear that the Philippines’ initiation of arbitration “aims not to settle its disputes with China, but to deny China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea…”

The white paper calls the conduct by the Philippines “an act of bad faith.”

CHINA’S EFFORTS TO KEEP STABILITY WILL GO ON

The South China Sea is home to a number of important shipping lanes, and is vital to China as well as other countries in and around the region. Over the years, China has worked with ASEAN member states to ensure unimpeded access to and safety of shipping lanes in the South China Sea.

The white paper underlines China’s efforts in making the region more secure. To uphold the safety of shipping lanes in the South China Sea, the document describes how China has actively provided benefits to the international community and made every effort to provide services, such as navigational aids, search and rescue services as well as sea condition observations and meteorological forecasting in the region.

Calling the South China Sea a bridge of “communication and a bond of peace, friendship, cooperation and development between China and its neighbors,” the white paper concludes with China’s long standing policy — “to realize peace, stability, prosperity and development in the South China Sea region” is the shared aspiration and responsibility of China and ASEAN member states.

“China will continue to make unremitting efforts to achieve this goal.”