Consultation is way to keep peace, stability in South China Sea: Greek party official

Amicable consultation is the only way to resolve the escalating tension in the South China Sea, a Greek party official and expert in international relations told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Vassiliki Souladaki, deputy secretary of international relations department of the socialist PASOK party and an expert in foreign policy affairs, urged for honest dialogue between sovereign states on the basis of respecting historical facts and in accordance with international law, to put an end to the dispute.

Any escalation of tension through military presence is harmful and does not help to that direction, she stressed.

"China has already declared it wants to solve this problem between the interested parties in a peaceful way through consultation. I really agree with this view of China," she said when speaking at PASOK's headquarters in central Athens.

"So I think that the consultation should continue between the interested parties through diplomatic means, consultation in order to keep peace and stability in the South China Sea," she underlined.

An arbitral tribunal with widely contested jurisdiction will issue an award on July 12 on the South China Sea case unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague said on Wednesday.

China has refused to participate in the proceedings and declared that it will never recognize the verdict, stressing that the tribunal has no jurisdiction because the case is in essence related to territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. Endit