DFA fires back at China: Your accusations are baseless

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday dismissed China's statement that the Philippines did not exhaust all political and diplomatic avenues in resolving the ongoing disputes over the West Philippine Sea.

At a televised press briefing, DFA Spokesperson Raul Hernandez enumerated the various steps initiated by the Philippines, such as the move to settle the dispute through international arbitration.

"The Chinese statement is baseless," Hernandez said. "As we have previously stated in numerous occasions, the Philippines and China have been exchanging views on these disputes in attempts to achieve negotiated solutions."

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Hernandez said the Philippines has invited China to hold informal talks and consultations and to bring the issue to a dispute-settlement mechanism to resolve the matter on a long-term basis.

He also noted that nearly 50 consultations with China have been conducted since the Chinese intrusions, particularly in the Bajo De Masinloc, started in April 2012.

"We had all along been indicating publicly our three-track approach of diplomatic, political and legal tracks including arbitration," said Hernandez.

The DFA official said China has consistently maintained its "indisputable sovereignty" over the entire South China Sea including the West Philippine Sea based on historical facts.

He said this "rigid position" of China made it impossible for the Philippines to continue bilateral discussions on sea disputes with the Asian giant. This situation finally led the country to resort to arbitration.

"The Philippines remains steadfast in peacefully resolving the west Philippine sea dispute before the arbitral tribunal which is now in place," Hernandez said.