China: Peaceful resolution possible, but Spratlys ours

MANILA — China has reasserted its commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes in region but stressed its "indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha (Spratly) Islands and their adjacent waters," part of which Manila claims and calls the West Philippine Sea.

In a policy paper published by the State Council Information Office and released to media by the Chinese Embassy, China said that it "has always been committed to resolving disputes peacefully through negotiation and consultation, managing disputes by setting rules and establishing mechanisms, realizing mutually beneficial outcomes through cooperation for mutual benefit, and upholding peace and stability as well as freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea."

It also said that China has been in "close communication and dialogue" with member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

China cited the non-binding Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the West Philippine Sea signed in 2002, where parties agree to resolve disputes through dialogue between nations directly involved. It said that dialogue within the DOC has strengthened maritime cooperation between parties and has generally "made positive progress."

In 2013, the Philippines filed an arbitration case with an international tribunal over claims in the West Philippine Sea that are within the country's exclusive economic zone.

The court ruled in July 2016 that China's nine-dash-line claim has no legal basis and that China violated Philippine rights by barring access to Scarborough Shoal, a traditional fishing ground that Filipinos call Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag.

China has refused to acknowledge the ruling and the President Rodrigo Duterte said that the Philippines will "set aside" the dispute for now. The Philippines has also been mum recently on reports that China has put up missiles in reclaimed islands in the West Philippine Sea.

"No effort to internationalize and judicialize the South China Sea issue will be of any avail for its resolution; it will only make it harder to resolve the issue, and endanger regional peace and stability," China said.