Overseas Chinese urged to support sovereignty for South China Sea

Chinese Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification-New York issued a statement with other Chinese communities in the New York area, expressing dissatisfaction and opposition to the ruling.

"Chinese on the East Coast of the US firmly support the Chinese government and Chinese people's attitude towards the dispute over the South China Sea, which is no acceptance and no participation of the arbitration, no recognition and no implementation of the arbitration award; against settling the South China Sea dispute by adopting the method of arbitration," the statement said.

The organization calls for the international society to take heed of the Chinese government's and people's reasonable claim, to respect the historical facts and to facilitate peaceful negotiation on solving the dispute in accordance with the principles of international law.

In Washington, the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations (UCAPO) issued a statement on Tuesday against the arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, which "over China's objections … abuses the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)".

"We call for the Chinese overseas across the globe to wield our influence in the resident countries to firmly support the Chinese government's operations in safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity and marine rights and interests," UCAPO wrote in the statement.

The organization also appealed to the Philippines government to put the China-Philippines relationship and regional peace and stability above everything else, and to settle the dispute peacefully through negotiation with the Chinese government.

Founded in 1998, UCAPO has 30 subsidiary Chinese communities from different walks of life in the Washington area under its flagship.

Contact the writer at liazhu@chinadailyusa.com