KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — China is committed to resolving disputes related to territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea peacefully through negotiations and consultations with the countries concerned, China’s Embassy in Malaysia said in a statement Monday.
The statement followed recent remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea were completely unlawful.
“Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with “might makes right,” Pompeo had said in a statement on July 13.
A spokesman from the Chinese Embassy said that China was sticking to its principle of mutual respect and that it was addressing the South China Sea issue together with its ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) neighbours.
“China has always pursued a good-neighbourly foreign policy and insists that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, should be all equal. With the joint efforts of China and ASEAN countries, the situation in the South China Sea has been improving overall,” he said in the statement.
On US’ allegation that China is asserting its maritime claims, the spokesperson said China has confined its oil and gas development and fishing activities in the South China Sea strictly within waters under China’s jurisdiction, in accordance with relevant international laws including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and China’s domestic legislations.
He added that China also exercised great restraint over oil and gas development in the disputed waters in the South China Sea and that none of the working drilling oil rigs among the thousand rigs in the disputed waters in the South China Sea belonged to China.
“China never stirs up trouble, but when our maritime rights are infringed, we have to make necessary reactions, even so the reactions are all moderate. We never seek to build “maritime empire” in the South China Sea,” he said.
On the contrary, “a certain country has been constantly flexing its muscles in the South China Sea by sending advanced warships and fighter planes to the region and conducting excessive military drills. In the guise of “freedom of navigation”, this country has frequently approached and illegally entered waters and airspace of China near the relevant reefs in South China Sea, threatening the sovereignty and security of China,” the Embassy spokesperson said.
On the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration and the subsequent Tribunal decision which had sided the Philippines, the spokesperson said that the arbitral tribunal itself was established on an unlawful basis and that it had willfully expanded its power to exercise jurisdiction and make an award.
“China does not accept or recognise that.
“China has made clear its position on many occasions. No matter how the relevant disputes are deliberately packaged as mere issues concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention, the essence of the subject-matter of the arbitration is the territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation.
‘Territorial issues are not subject to the Convention and the maritime delimitation disputes have been excluded from the UNCLOS compulsory dispute settlement procedures by China’s 2006 Declaration,” he said.
“All the geographical features such as islands, reefs,shoals and their waters in the South China Sea are natural components of the archipelago. The status of the component features of Nansha Qundao (referred to as Spratly Islands in English) cannot be addressed separately.
“China always treat Nansha Qundao as a whole unit, claims territorial sovereignty and enjoys maritime entitlements. This is totally consistent with the international law and practices of other countries.”
He said that although both China and Malaysia hold different positions and have overlapping claims in relevant waters, the governments of both sides have handled the disputes and managed the differences through dialogues and consultations, with good will and sincerity.
He said China is always ready to cooperate with Malaysia, to deepen their mutual trust and to continue to properly settle the relevant issues through bilateral friendly consultations.
“It is our expectation that both sides can work together to fully implement the DOC (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties) and push forward the consultation on CoC (Code of Conduct) so as to safeguard the peace and stability over the South China Sea.
“Before the dispute are settled, China will continue to work with relevant parties including Malaysia to put aside differences, promote common development on oil and gas resources and advance the cooperation on maritime environment protection and fishing resources preservation, in order to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,” he said.
— NNN
