<http://www.chinese-embassy.org.za/eng/> China, People's Republic of, SA Embassy.jpg Embassy of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of South Africa Article by Ambassador Tian Xuejun On June 2, Independent Media's nationwide newspaper Star published Ambassador Tian Xuejun's article titled China Will Not Fall into the Trap of South China Sea Arbitration. In his article, Ambassador Tian reveals the fallacy of the arbitration and reiterates the legitimacy of China's decision of neither participating in nor accepting the arbitration. The Ambassador elaborates on the practicability and effectiveness of the China-proposed settlement of disputes through peaceful negotiation and voices China's consistent and clear commitment to peace, stability and prosperity in the South China Sea. Pretoria News also published this article. The full text goes as follows: Star2.jpg China Will Not Fall into the Trap of South China Sea Arbitration Ambassador of China to South Africa Tian Xuejun, The Star, Johannesburg, 2 June 2016 Recently, the arbitration case around the dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea has caught certain media attention around the world. In South Africa, the story has also been reported by the press and made its way to several opinion columns. With its seemingly relevance to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international arbitration, many would be easily misled to view this issue as a matter of law, without giving much thought to the political aspect of the issue: What is the Philippines really up to? Who really staged the whole political provocation? As a responsible member of the international community, China is strongly committed to the integrity and seriousness of the Convention and always opposes any attempt on political gains through the abuse or distortion of the Convention. We will not give certain countries the satisfaction of tricking us into the trap of the South China Sea arbitration. The "disputed" Nansha Islands has long been a part of the Chinese territory, which is not only supported by numerous historical evidence since ancient times, but also by the many international treaties from the modern times. The heart of the South China Sea issue is the territorial dispute and the resulting maritime delimitation dispute caused by the Philippines' and some others' illegal seizure of the Chinese Nansha Islands. What the Philippines really wants from this arbitration is to legitimise these unlawful seizures of the Chinese territory, despite the great lengths it has gone to make it look otherwise. People who are familiar with the Convention should know that territorial issues are beyond the purview of the Convention. As for the maritime delimitation, in pursuant to the article 298 of the Convention, China made an exclusion declaration in 2006, thereby lawfully excluding itself from any compulsory dispute settlement procedure by a third-party. Apart from China, over 30 other countries, including UK and France, have made the same exclusion declaration. In this connection, the dispute between China and the Philippines does not apply the compulsory dispute settlement procedure of the Convention, and therefore is beyond the jurisdiction of the international arbitration tribunal. It has always been China's consistent policy that we do not participate in or accept the so-called arbitration, because with the arbitration itself being illegal, any decision that comes out of the process must be void. People who are familiar with the Convention are also aware that when it comes to dispute settlement, the provisions of Convention are not solely about arbitration, but also attach equal importance to negotiations, stressing the need to respect contracting parties' independent choice for dispute settlement. In the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), it is explicitly declared that the parties concerned should undertake to resolve their disputes by consultations and negotiations. This principle has also been reaffirmed in multiple bilateral instruments including joint statement between the governments of China and the Philippines. Unfortunately, of all the claims that the Philippines submitted to the arbitration tribunal, including the question of whether there is dispute over the interpretation and applicability of the Convention, none has been through serious consultation with China. Such behavior of the Philippines not only breached the agreement to resolve dispute through consultation as provided for in the DOC and bilateral instruments between the two countries, it also violated the principle that arbitration must be based on mutual consent. Some people argue that China is such a big country that the Philippines is simply too small to stand up to in bilateral negation to settle territorial and maritime dispute. Such narrative against China is clearly a result of conventional bias towards large countries. The fact is, through friendly consultation and negotiation, China has already completed border demarcation with 12 of its 14 land neighbors, accounting for some 90 percent of the total land boundary. Through friendly negotiations, China and Vietnam have also delimited their maritime boundary in the Beibu Gulf. Large numbers of past practices suggest that bilateral negotiation has its unique strength in resolving such complicated and sensitive issues as territorial sovereignty and maritime boundary delimitation, as it would fully reflect the independent will and sovereign equality of countries concerned, thereby ensuring the negotiated result will enjoy better public acceptance and more effective implementation. China always believes that the disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved through negotiation, managed through rules and mechanisms, and eased by joint development. Over the years, based on these principles, China and ASEAN countries have together upheld the peace and stability in the South China Sea, and there has never been any problem of security or freedom of navigation in the region. Yet certain country outside the region, in an effort to re-balance to Asia-Pacific, keeps on playing up the South China Sea issue, excitingly roots for the Philippines and others to scale-up and complicate the situation, and repeatedly deploys warships to the region for the so-called "freedom of navigation operation", gravely escalating the tensions and complexity of the regional environment. Such manipulative moves to pursue one's own gains at the expense of others' interests and welfare is highly alarming. In our efforts to advance the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, China has enjoyed tremendous support from many ASEAN member countries and countries beyond the region. China is willing to joint efforts with all parties to make the South China Sea truly a sea of peace, cooperation, and prosperity. From: http://www.chinese-embassy.org.za/eng/sgxw/t1369034.htm -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. 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