Xinhua | 2016-06-25
China is not obliged to accept the arbitration over its disputes with the Philippines in the South China Sea and the presence of outside forces there is "very risky," the chief of Turkey's Patriotic Party said on Friday. "It seems that the arbitration from an international tribunal will be used for military purposes," observed Chairman Dogu Perincek. "It will be used to apply some kind of pressure on China." In 2013, the Philippines unilaterally filed compulsory arbitration against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague with respect to the two sides' disputes in the South China Sea. China maintains that the tribunal handling the arbitration proceedings has no jurisdiction over the case, which is in essence about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. Perincek described the arbitration by the tribunal as "an obvious intervention into the regional countries' sovereignty," saying China as an independent and sovereign country "has no obligation to obey the decision of the international tribunal." "China has been following a policy of sharing the wealth of the region with others based on mutual respect," he told Xinhua in an interview. "The Philippines is a very luck country for having a neighbor like China which has been pursing peaceful policies." He referred to the "Belt and Road" initiative, calling it a "very peaceful" project reflecting China's "peaceful philosophy." Perincek agreed with Beijing's insistence on resolution of the disputes through negotiations and dialogue. "The only solution will be through cooperation and dialogue in the region," he said, describing China's efforts to keep foreign powers out of the disputes as "an assurance for the neighbors in solving the South China Sea disputes." Speaking of U.S. involvement in the sea, he saw a "very dangerous" strategy being adopted by Washington to move away from the Middle East toward the Asia-Pacific region. "The U.S. has been pursuing its own plans in the region and the region is becoming a center of conflicts," the party chief remarked. He spoke of Washington's intention to "stop and prevent the rise of China" as well as "encircle" and "contain" the country. "We can say that this strategy is very dangerous," he said. "The U.S. policy on the South China Sea disputes is part of that strategy which sabotages China's peaceful development." "The only solution would be possible when the international powers are excluded from the region," Perincek stressed. "All other countries in the region should come together to develop genuine solutions in particular for that sea."
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