Door open to bilateral negotiations

Observers have called on Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to quit the arbitration and return to the table for talks with Beijing.

Jia Duqiang, a researcher in Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the incoming Duterte administration seems willing to "reevaluate the country's policies towards China".

Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said it remained to be seen if the new Philippine government would respond to Beijing's overtures.

The arbitration process is coming to a critical moment with the arbitral tribunal expected to announce its ruling in a few weeks.

In another development, Hong Lei, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, urged the Unites States to stop reconnaissance flights near China's coast after US defense officials said earlier in the day that a Chinese fighter jet carried out an "unsafe" intercept of a US spy plane above the East China Sea.

Washington is once again deliberately playing up the encounter, Hong said, adding Chinese pilots always operate responsibly and professionally.