S. China Sea disputes should be resolved through bilateral dialogue: Argentine expert

BUENOS AIRES - The disputes between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea should be settled through bilateral negotiation, Argentine expert Paola de Simone said Thursday.

Simone, a lawyer and political analyst from the University of Buenos Aires, told Xinhua that Manila's arbitration request over the issue "violated the Philippines' commitment to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC)." That is, territorial and jurisdictional disputes should solved through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned.

The Philippines filed unilaterally in 2013 an arbitration case against China over the issue in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Its move went against an agreement it reached with China in the mid-1990s on settling their disputes through negotiation. China has excluded maritime delimitation from compulsory arbitration in a declaration it made in 2006 in accordance with Article 298 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and has made it clear it will not accept or get involved in those proceedings.

Beijing insists that the Philippines must abandon its arbitration requests and return to bilateral negotiation.

The Philippines' President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has said he wishes to cultivate friendly relations with China and that he is open to direct talks concerning the South China Sea disputes.