Chinese officials, experts defend stance on Philippines' arbitration

Will China lose rights if the award goes against China?

According to international legal experts, such a situation would be possible only when the award was implemented.

However, as China repeatedly stated its stance of non-acceptance and non-participation, and the arbitral tribunal does not have any implementing body, the final ruling will not affect China's maritime rights.

Reaffirming that China's position on the South China Sea issue will never be changed, Xu said the arbitration, alongside with the award, "will not change history and the fact of China's sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and the adjacent waters."

Their acts will not shake China's resolution and determination to safeguard its sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, nor will they affect the policy and position of China to resolve relevant disputes through direct negotiations and to work together with other states in the region to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, said Xu.

"We hope that any party involved will not be hijacked by this arbitration," he said.

This is a fight of will power, said Ouyang Yujing, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs.

"There is no room for concession when it comes to territorial sovereignty and maritime rights," he said.

Is China "isolated," as some claimed?

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, more than 40 countries have expressed support for China's stance on the South China Sea, including ASEAN countries and countries out of the region.

In the Doha Declaration adopted on May 12 at the seventh ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, 21 Arab states said they support China in peacefully settling territorial and maritime disputes with concerned countries through consultation and negotiation in accordance with bilateral agreements and regional consensus.

The declaration stresses that the rights entitled to sovereignty states and State Parties of the UNCLOS to choose dispute settlement ways independently should be respected.

"This shows the international community's respect for and support to China's stance of resolving the South China Sea issue via negotiation," said Zeng at Wuhan University.

"The right and wrong do not depend on which side speaks louder," said Director-General Xu.

"Some Western countries have voiced views unfavorable to China on the arbitration case, but the group of Western countries itself cannot represent the whole international community," he said.

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