Chinese FM reiterates refusal of Filipino sea arbitration

China will make a "necessary response" if some parties unilaterally and deliberately provoke China when it is safeguarding what it sees as its territorial and maritime interests in the South China Sea, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang reiterated China's stance that it does not accept and will not participate in an international arbitration process initiated by the Philippines over the matter of China's jurisdiction in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Monday was the response deadline laid out by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

On January 22, 2013, the Philippines unilaterally initiated compulsory arbitration proceedings with respect to on-going disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Qin said that China's determination to safeguard its territorial and maritime interests is firm. "If some sides make deliberate provocations unilaterally, China will have to make the necessary response," he added.

Quoting a government position paper released one week ago, Qin said China will neither accept nor participate in the "so-called" arbitration and that the Arbitral Tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the case.

Territorial sovereignty is beyond the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is the essence of the subject matter of the arbitration process, hence the Arbitral Tribunal has no jurisdiction over the dispute, according to the position paper.

"China's stance regarding the South China Sea is consistent and clear," Qin said.

Qin said that China insists that all sides concerned should address disputes through consultations with the precondition that historical facts and international law are respected.

"[We] hope all sides will work together with China, in this spirit and in accordance with the principles established in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea, to safeguard peace and stability," he said.

Signed in 2002 by China and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the DOC explicitly states that "the Parties concerned undertake to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means ... through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned, in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law."