BEIJING: Pakistan and other South Asian countries fully stand by China on the issue of South China Sea, and believed that the Hague’s Tribunal has absolutely no justification to question China’s legitimacy over the matter.
China enjoys overwhelming support on the issue world-wide as well, said an official of Pakistan Embassy here. He referred to Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain’s recent statement that says “Pakistan firmly supports China's principles and positions on issues concerning the South China Sea as well as Taiwan and Tibet.
The President made the statement during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent last week.
The official said, not only Pakistan but other regional countries also respect China’s sovereignty on the Sea’s issue. Pakistan, he added considers China’s sovereignty as its own, as both the countries stood by each other on matters of their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan took similar positions over the years on issues, relating to Taiwan and Tibet.
Meanwhile, experts on international law in Hague, South Holland have reportedly expressed concern over the South China Sea arbitration and said that the case proceedings were unclear.
According to reports, around 30 experts from Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States spoke about the South China Sea issue at a seminar co-organised by Leiden University’s Grotius Center for International Legal Studies and Wuhan University’s Institute for Boundary and Ocean Studies.
A wide range of issues were reportedly brought up at the seminar which included the appointment of arbitrators, the arbitral proceedings and the controversial jurisdiction.
Abraham Sofaer, former legal adviser of the U.S. State Department took a stand for China and said that China has made it clear that it does not accept any mandatory procedures, including arbitrations, with respect to disputes over sovereignty and delimitation of sea area. He said that for this reason the arbitration proposed by the Philippines is unwise.
According to reports, Michael Sheng-ti Gau, a professor of International Law at the Institute for the Law of the Sea of National Taiwan Ocean University also questioned the tribunal and said that the court failed to see that Philippines claims were over sovereignty.
He said, “The court should deal with the real issues of admissibility and jurisdiction existing in all the claims of the Philippines.”
Sreenivasa Rao Pemmaraju, former chairman of the UN International Law Commission said that no matter what the verdict is in this case, tensions over the disputed waters would not be resolved. The proper course is that the matter is sorted out through consultation by the countries’ concerned themselves at bilateral level.
The international panel of the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to announce a verdict on this case in second week of July 9.
China had earlier said that it will not abide by the tribunal’s ruling as it does not recognise it.
Six Pacific nations including Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have territorial claims in the South China Sea that is believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas and also witnesses over $5 trillion in global ship-borne trade passing by each year.