Cambodian Prince Ranariddh's party backs China's rejection of South China Sea arbitration

Cambodia's royalist Funcinpec Party has voiced its support to China for rejecting the arbitration over the South China Sea issue, which was unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, and urged the two sides to resolve their dispute through bilateral negotiations.

Manila unilaterally initiated an arbitration case against China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in early 2013 under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The decision will probably be announced in May or June.

China has declared that it will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration initiated by the Philippines, saying the arbitration violates the basic principles of international law and undermines the integrity and authority of the UN Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), and it has no right to adjudicate on the case as in 2006.

"We, Funcinpec Party, fully support the above mentioned Chinese Government Declaration," said a party's statement released to the media on Sunday. "We also support the Chinese government position related to that arbitration procedure, unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, before the arbitration court."

The Funcinpec Party, which is led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, also congratulated China for continuing to peacefully resolve the South China Sea problems based, in particular, on the measures as planned by the latest "Law of the Sea Convention".

"We, finally, urge all parties concerned, in particular the People's Republic of China and the Philippines, to enter into bilateral negotiations before resorting to any arbitration," the statement said. Enditem