Violation of international laws

The Philippines should fully recognize how sensitive and complicated the South China Sea issue is, and return to the right track of resolving the dispute through consultations and negotiations.

The Philippines has attempted to unilaterally force arbitration on its South China Sea dispute with China, but China stands on a solid legal ground in refusing to accept or participate in the arbitration, says a Xinhua commentary.

The Philippines' filing for arbitration is an abuse of law procedures. As is clearly stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the precondition for the application of arbitration procedures is the principle of consent, a basic principle of international law.