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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei's Remarks on a Statement on Settling Disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea through Bilateral Negotiation
2016-06-08 21:43

Q: This morning, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement on settling disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiation. What is the consideration behind the statement?

A: The Philippines closed the door of settling relevant disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation with China by unilaterally initiating the arbitration in 2013, which led to deterioration of China-Philippines relations. In order to properly deal with maritime disputes, China and the Philippines have on many occasions agreed to resolve relevant disputes through bilateral negotiation. However, the two sides have by far never engaged in any bilateral negotiation on the subject-matters of the arbitration.

The South China Sea arbitration was unilaterally initiated by the Philippines. In doing so, the Philippines has turned its back on the agreement reached and repeatedly reaffirmed by China and the Philippines on settling the relevant disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation and violated its own solemn commitment in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). This is an abuse of the UNCLOS dispute settlement procedures. It goes against international law, including UNCLOS.

The door of China-Philippines bilateral negotiation is always open. China will remain committed to settling through negotiation the relevant disputes with the Philippines in the South China Sea on the basis of respecting historical facts and in accordance with international law. China urges the Philippines to immediately cease its wrongful conduct of pushing forward the arbitral proceedings, and return to the right path of settling the relevant disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiation with China.

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