China-Philippines S China Sea dispute needs bilateral talks, says Argentine expert

A fisherman works in his boat on the sea near Zhaoshu Island of Qilianyu Islands, Sansha City, south China's Hainan Province, April 30, 2016. Since Sansha was officially established in 2012, people's lives on Zhaoshu Island have significantly improved by building the power station, seawater desalination plant and the road running around the island. [Photo/Xinhua]

Girado believes the dispute "doesn't merit intervention by third parties," such as an arbitration court, which "belongs to the last century."

In 2014, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a Position Paper on the arbitration, saying that the essence of the subject matter of the case is territorial sovereignty over several maritime features in the South China Sea, which is beyond the scope of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) under which Manila initiated the arbitration.

China has repeatedly noted that since the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally seized by force maritime features of China's Nansha Islands in disregard of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, and this is "the root and direct cause" of the two countries' disputes over the South China Sea.

"It's appropriate for China not to take into consideration the resolution of arbitration, given the previous accord that allows for reaching a mutual agreement through peaceful, responsible negotiation," Girado said.

"Law of the Sea legislation precisely says that those who have a previous accord for bilateral resolution of disputes must take that route," he said.

With that in mind, said the academic, it seems "clear and wise on the part of Chinese diplomacy not to take into account any eventual decision (issued by the PCA), because it doesn't take into account China's opinion."

As to the likelihood of outside powers intervening in the dispute, Girado thought it's "evident." He explained that since U.S. President Barack Obama's first term, a policy has been established for the region, with the U.S. Navy's presence in a certain area in order to exert a degree of influence on matters of interest to the United States.

"It's a tremendously rich zone, through which half of the planet's maritime mercantile trade passes. I have no doubt there are concrete interests at play in the Filipino decision, which really calls one's attention," said Girado.

The academic underscored the need for a negotiated solution to the dispute, drawing parallels to Argentina's long-running conflict with Britain over the Malvinas Islands, known to the British as the Falklands.

Since the islands "were usurped by the world's leading capitalist economy back in the year 1833, different interests have been at play to prevent Argentina, a developing country, from staking a claim to what belongs to it."

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