Foreign and Military Affairs
China opposes playing up South China Sea issue
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-14 20:23
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BEIJING - China firmly opposes attempts to internationalize the South China Sea issue, which should only be resolved bilaterally through friendly consultations between parties involved, said an opinion article published Tuesday by the Liberation Army Daily.
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"It has been proved by history that any move to play up disputes, sharpen contradictions, or intentionally internationalize disputes will only make the situation worse," the signed article said.
Stressing that China opposes any "unrelated" country to interfere in the issue of South China Sea, the article urged the countries involved to stop any unilateral action that will complicate the issue and never voice groundless and irresponsible remarks.
"Only with sincerity and patience and through direct consultations by the parties involved can an appropriate solution to the dispute be found," the article read.
Chinese people were the first to discover and develop islands in the South China Sea and had indisputable sovereignty over the islands and their surrounding seawater, the article noted.
In an official statement issued in 1958, the Chinese government had clearly claimed the islands in the South China Sea as part of China's sovereign territory, and then Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong also expressed agreement, according to the article.
The countries concerned had acknowledged that the South China Sea belonged to China and the situation had remained calm until 1968, when the United Nations reported the sea had oil resources, the article said.
Following that report, many coastal countries on the South China Sea began to claim sovereignty over the islands in the sea and even took forceful actions to occupy some of them, which resulted in a territorial dispute with China, it added.
China on Thursday urged Vietnam to halt all acts which violate Chinese sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and surrounding waters, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
Chinese fishing boats, while operating on the Vanguard Bank of the Nansha Islands, were chased away by armed Vietnamese ships last Thursday morning.
In the turmoil, the fishing net of one of the Chinese fishing boats became tangled with the cables of an Vietnamese oil exploring vessel, which was operating illegally in the area.
Hong said oil exploration on the Vanguard Bank and chasing away of the Chinese boats by the Vietnamese side grossly infringed Chinese sovereignty and maritime rights.