People’s Daily calls for return to negotiating table to resolve South China Sea dispute

After China released a white paper reaffirming its position concerning the South China Sea, the People’s Daily published an editorial on Thursday stating that China would always keep a door open to negotiation and consultation as these are the only way to resolve disputes over the South China Sea.

However, the paper also stressed that China has historically established sovereignty and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea, and the Chinese people have long been the masters of the islands in the South China Sea.

The editorial was published under the pen name Zhong Sheng, a homonym in Chinese for “voice of China” that is often used to express the paper’s views on foreign policy.

The following is a translation of the editorial:

China’s State Council on Wednesday issued a white paper to reiterate its position on the South China Sea after the tribunal in The Hague announced its so-called verdict concerning the arbitration that the Philippines unilaterally filed despite China’s repeated objection.

The 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,” clarifies the facts behind the disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea and reaffirms China’s consistent position and policies concerning the issue.

Laying out the evidence concerning China’s sovereignty of the waters over the course of its 2,000-plus years of history, the over-20,000-word document is a solemn statement to the world that China has historically established sovereignty and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea, and the Chinese people have long been the masters of the islands in the South China Sea.

After reading the white paper, anyone with a conscience should have no excuse to tolerate the distortion of right and wrong that has occurred.

China stated that it would not participate in the process nor accept any verdictsas soon as the Aquino administration started this flawed political farce in 2013 by unilaterally filing the South China Sea arbitration

Peace-loving countries both in and outside the region also voiced their strong support of China’s stance that disputes should be resolved through negotiation and consultation.

This support not only demonstrated these countries’ recognition of China’s efforts in safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, but also indicated that the international community expects China to resolve relevant disputes through negotiation and consultation with those parties directly concerned.

For historical reasons, there are still many complicated disputes concerning sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. The solution to this is not a simple matter of drawing a line of maritime delimitation. For such a line to be accepted and respected, aspects such as history, the law, politics and even national feelings must also be taken into account.

For those regional countries whose interests and destinies are tightly interwoven, negotiation and consultation among related parties is a far better way to solve these complex and sensitive disputes than going through some third-party mechanism.

Additionally, any resolutions reached through negotiations and consultations among related countries will best respect the wishes and sovereignty of each country, which in turn will make it more easily accepted by the peoples of those countries and cause far less turbulence.

For years, China has spared no effort to settle, on the basis of respect for historical facts, relevant disputes with countries concerned through negotiation in accordance with international law. This demonstrates China’s sense of responsibility as a major country.

In 2002, China and the 10 ASEAN member states signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. The Declaration stipulates: “The Parties concerned undertake to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, without resorting to the threat or use of force, through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned, in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

These commitments made by parties directly concerned were also witnessed and supervised by other signatories.

In addition, in a series of bilateral documents China and the Philippines agreed to resolve disputes in a similar manner, while settlement through a third-party mechanism was specifically excluded by both sides.

However, the Aquino administration broke this promise for its own illegal interests in the Nansha Islands and unilaterally filed the arbitration against China. The Philippine government appears to have honored UNCLOS, but in fact has damaged its authority and integrity by misinterpreting and abusing the arbitration procedures set out in the convention.

What’s more ridiculous is that the so-called South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal, neglecting the basic facts and the principles of international law, not only abused its power by interfering in territorial disputes and maritime delimitation, but has now perpetuated falsehoods concerning the sovereignty of the islands and reefs.

This evidence clearly indicates that the so-called arbitration was not intended to settle disputes, but to meddle in the waters of the South China Sea.

To achieve its insidious motives, the Aquino administration made up irresponsible claims that with its stronger national strength China has been bullying the Philippines by sticking to resolving disputes through bilateral negotiation. Such a nonsensical supposition and well-worn cliche is indeed completely twisting China’s efforts through diplomatic channels.

Since its founding over 60 years ago, China has signed boundary treaties with 12 of its 14 land neighbors through bilateral negotiations and consultations in the spirit of equality and mutual understanding. Through this way, about 90 percent of China’s land boundaries have been delimited and demarcated.

China and Vietnam, for instance, have delimited through negotiations the boundaries between their territorial seas, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves in the Beibu Gulf. China and South Korea are now also negotiating maritime delimitation of the Yellow Sea. All of those neighbors, big or small, have never once accused China of bullying the weak in negotiations.

Upholding the ideal that countries of different sizes should treat each other as equals, China has devoted itself to settling border issues on equal-footing. This diplomatic philosophy has helped China attain international reputation.

In the future, China will persist along the path of peaceful development, insist on resolving disputes in the South China Sea through peaceful manners, and proactively develop friendly relations.

China believes that only through negotiation and consultation can the South China Sea be built into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.

The fabrications of the arbitration tribunal will eventually fade away, while the friendly and peaceful message conveyed in the white paper will be embraced by the world. China will always keep a door open to negotiation and consultation.

The peace and stability of the South China Sea is closely linked with the mutual wellbeing of China and other countries around the region, as such negotiations and consultations are the only way to resolve disputes.