Quotable quotes on S. China Sea arbitration: Arbitral award void, bilateral negotiations needed

The international community has continued to criticize the biased arbitration on the South China Sea dispute, while calling for bilateral negotiations to solve the issue.

On Tuesday, the Hague-based tribunal handling the South China Sea arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine government issued its final award, denying China's long-standing historical rights in the South China Sea.

ILLEGAL ARBITRATION, VOID AWARD

Chinese government, white paper titled "China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea"

-- The Philippines' territorial claim over part of Nansha Qundao is groundless from the perspectives of either history or international law.

Ashfaqur Rahman, former Bangladeshi ambassador to China

-- What the tribunal has done can never be called an arbitration.

Chang Ya-chung, professor of politics at Taiwan University

-- The award is totally nonsense and malicious, a result of political maneuvering.

Omar al-Mekdad, Syrian expert on Chinese affairs

-- The decision taken by the tribunal in The Hague is politicized and has deliberately overlooked the historic facts about China's sovereign right over the South China Sea territory.

Shahid Qureshi, London Post editor and political analyst

-- I am of the view that the tribunal must review its position and jurisdiction for the sake of the institution it stands for; otherwise it will become a joke in the legal history as they did not follow the due process of law.

CHINA TO GIVE PROPER RESPONSE

Liu Zhenmin, Chinese vice foreign minister

-- The ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) is not a Chinese invention, but rather that of some big powers. If our security were threatened, of course we have the right. It depends on our comprehensive judgment.

Qu Xing, Chinese ambassador to Belgium

-- If other parties insist on creating tensions, China will have no choice but to deal with tensions in a proper way. But I am convinced that peace and stability in the region will be maintained.

Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies

-- Regional tensions are going to rise. It would be a mistake to calculate or assume that China will scale down its sovereign claims and activities in the South China Sea after the ruling.

BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS NEEDED

Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the United States

-- China remains committed to negotiation and consultations with other parties (in the South China Sea). This position has never changed and will not change.

Butch Valdes, former undersecretary, Philippine Department of Education

-- The negotiation must start immediately. And the arbitral ruling is both useless and irrelevant.

Tom Zwart, professor of law at Utrecht University in the Netherlands

-- I hope that after a day of celebration perhaps in Manila, they will come to their senses and pick up the phone to contact the leaders in Beijing and say "we have to resolve this peacefully."

Mohamed Mustafa Al-Daw, head of external relations committee, Sudanese parliament

-- We back China's call for resolving the South China Sea dispute through dialogue and negotiation as the most appropriate means to safeguard the world peace and security. Endi