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