WASHINGTON – China reiterated it would uphold its maritime rights ahead of a ruling by a UN arbitral court on a Philippine case against Chinese claims to virtually all of the South China Sea.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi in remarks in Beijing on Tuesday at the end of a Strategic and Security Dialogue with the US said South China Sea islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times and China has every right to “uphold its territorial sovereignty and lawful and legitimate maritime entitlements.”
He said China’s position of not accepting or participating in the Philippine arbitration case has not and will not change.
The court’s ruling is expected in the next few weeks and many analysts believe the result will be favorable to the Philippines.
Referring to overlapping claims to the sea by a number of Chinese neighbors including the Philippines and Vietnam, Yang said the disputes should be peacefully addressed through negotiation and consultation by countries directly involved.
He said China and the United States have broad converging interests and face common challenges in this region and both sides need to respect each other’s interests in the Asia Pacific.
For his part, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern about any unilateral steps by any party to alter the status quo in the South China Sea.
The United States does not take a position on the sovereignty of any of the land features in the South China Sea, he said.
“But we do believe that all claimants should exercise restraint as we go forward.”
The statements by Yang and Kerry were distributed to the media by the State Department in Washington.
At a later news conference, Kerry said the US position with respect to maritime law was very clear: “We want the traditional historic freedom of navigation and overflight to be respected.”
He said no South China Sea claimant should engage in unilateral actions that could be deemed by somebody else to be provocative and therefore problematic.
China says Phl is ignoring maritime talks proposal
China said yesterday the Philippines has ignored a proposal for a regular talks mechanism over maritime issues, as it repeated that its door was always open to bilateral talks with Manila on the South China Sea.
China claims most of the waters, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims, as well as close military ties with the United States.
The Philippines has brought a case at an international tribunal in The Hague contesting China’s claims, a case rejected by China which wants to solve the issue bilaterally.
In a statement released in both Chinese and English, China’s Foreign Ministry said the two countries had agreed in 1995 to settle disputes in the South China Sea “in a peaceful and friendly manner through consultations on the basis of equity and mutual respect.” –