Experts issue call for Manila to negotiate

Experts' views towards arbitration

Eventually, the case will be sorted out as the related parties know more about evidence of China's longtime sovereignty over the South China Sea. I am very delighted that China has started to communicate effectively with the rest of the world to gain their understanding. More confidence- and trust-building efforts should be delivered in the Asian community, and each of us has a long way to go, and we must save energy, put the dispute aside and focus on development.

Sreenivasa Rao Pemmara-ju, chief legal adviser of India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

The arbitration, raised up by the Philippines but refused by China, has brought a lot of difficulties and anxiety, which are not good for all parties. And we (the United States) should be more responsible in talking to our ally.

Abraham Sofaer, senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the US

 

China could offer mountains of documents, records and historical heritages to prove that, since ancient times, Chinese people have discovered and used the South China Sea islands and reefs. Despite that the Philippines and Vietnam have occupied some islands of the South China Sea, China has kept refraining from raising disputes. But in recent years, since the United States has returned to the region, the Philippines has begun to claim sovereignty over the islands, which are owned by China, and this is the very nature of the dispute.

Hu Dekun, dean of the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies of Wuhan University

I am happy that top law experts worldwide have reached a consensus that the arbitration is questionable, since this legal body has no jurisdiction in a sovereignty dispute under the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which authorized the establishment of the Arbitral Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Against such a background, any verdict is invalid and China is doing right in accordance with the spirit of international law.

Sienho Yee, chief expert of China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies of Wuhan University

 

In the arbitration of the Philippines' claim against China, the absence of a disputing party is caused by the lack of the vital element of consent, which is the basis of the tribunal's jurisdiction. This absence is due to a formally declared and widely publicized lack of the consent that the International Court of Justice has declared to be the very basis of the court's jurisdiction in contentious cases.

M.C.W. Pinto, arbitrator in a number of cases and former secretary-general of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal

 

China has enough legitimate rights under international law to refuse to accept the arbitration, which was unilaterally initiated by the Philippines. So, I think any verdict from the tribunal is invalid and the Philippines should come to the negotiation table with China to solve the dispute, and the US should stop helping escalate tensions in the region right now.

Liu Huawen, assistant director at the Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences