World analysts react to South China Sea ruling

The tribunal issued its final award on Tuesday. China has refused to participate in the proceedings, reiterating that the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the case.World analysts also react to South China Sea ruling.

Chinese ambassador to Belgium Qu Xing on Tuesday said the award issued by the law-abusing ad hoc Arbitral Tribunal on South China Sea has no legal basis.

"I don't see any legal basis of this verdict, but I see lots of geopolitical considerations behind this arbitration. Some external powers play important roles," said Qu, when offering an interview with Belgian broadcaster VRT.

"The disputes between china and other claimants were there decades ago, but there have been no tensions until recent years. Where does the tension come from? it comes from external powers who sent warships and military planes for the provocation in the waters miles from china's islands. That is the origin of the possible tensions," said Qu.

Qu said the best way to settle the disputes is through direct bilateral negotiations.

Qu Xing,Chinese ambassador to Belgium

"I felt worried about the outcome of South China Sea arbitration award, it solves nothing but causes trouble for many countries," Lee Chian Siong, Senior Advisor to Chairman of China-ASEAN Business Association, told Xinhua here on Wednesday.

Lee noted that the arbitration award solves nothing, but causes trouble. He added that the ruling may arouse anxiety on what happens next. "Will the current situation of South China Sea become much more complicated?" Lee added that such questions may be put forward.

Meanwhile, Lee felt optimistic about the possibility that China and the Philippines may settle disputes in South China Sea through negotiations.

"Manila is aware that the ruling is in favor of the Philippines, and the new government behaves prudently. Meanwhile, the Chinese government also does the same, acting rationally," Lee said.

Lee Chian Siong, Senior Advisor to Chairman of

China-ASEAN Business Association

Velko Valkanov, a professor of law, who had long been a member of the Bulgarian National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on the drafting of the new Bulgarian Constitution, told Xinhua in an interview that the arbitral tribunal is a "very peculiar" institution.

"It can take legitimate decisions binding on the parties only if both parties agree to participate in this arbitration," Valkanov said, adding "If one of the two parties does not participate in, then the tribunal has no right even to hold sessions and take a decision, and its decision is null and void."

"This is the essential difference between the state court and the arbitral tribunal," he said.

"In this particular case with the Arbitral Tribunal's award on South China Sea, I think this whole procedure is a fallacy, an untruth, a lie with no effect. It is, as we lawyers say, a legal nothing. This act is null and void, because one of the parties in this dispute was not involved in it," the law expert stressed.

Professor Velko Valkanov, member of the Bulgarian National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Subcommittee

Pakistani analysts believe that the verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration is unhelpful because it hands down a lopsided interpretation, without taking into account China's position and stance.

"It reads the situation partially, selectively and politically. I am afraid it will complicate the situation in the region and spur escalation. Diplomatic tools should be used to avert a conflict or unintended catastrophe," Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad Masood Khan said on Wednesday.

Masood Khan told Xinhua that China has legitimate claims over its historical territory and it has a right to safeguard its national sovereignty.

Islamabad Masood Khan,

Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies

Covert interests of the United States were behind an arbitration case against China over the South China Sea, Venezuelan analysts have said.

The arbitration award, which denies China's rights over maritime territories that have historically fallen under Chinese jurisdiction, abets U.S. efforts to hinder the Asian country's progress to a global economic power, the analysts said.

"In recent years, the United States has launched an assault against China, especially by stoking historical disputes it has had with other countries in the region," Basem Tajeldine, an expert in international relations, told Xinhua.

Tajeldine believes Washington aims to use similar territorial disputes in the South China Sea -- where Vietnam and Malaysia, among others, also have competing claims -- to curb China's growth and at the same time spread its own sphere of influence in the region.

Basem Tajeldine, an expert in international relations

"China respects and upholds the freedom of navigation and overflight enjoyed by all states under international law in the South China Sea, and stays ready to work with other coastal states and the international community to ensure the safety of and the unimpeded access to the international shipping lanes in the South China Sea," China concluded in its statement.

(APD)