Global experts call for peace, dialogue to handle South China Sea disputes

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- An international symposium on the history and reality of the South China Sea was held in Beijing on Thursday, calling for peace and dialogue in the region.

Participants from around the world engaged in in-depth discussions on topics including the post-World War II international order, sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao -- known in English as the South China Sea islands -- and the re-evaluation of the South China Sea arbitration award in 2016.

Wu Shicun, chairman of the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, said that China's sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao and adjacent waters has ample historical and legal basis, as China has managed the region since ancient times and in accordance with the post-WWII international order.

"China's safeguarding of its sovereignty of Nanhai Zhudao is maintaining international order, rather than undermining international rules," said Wu in his opening remarks at the symposium.

"China and ASEAN should advance the consultations of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC), and work together to safeguard peace and stability in the region," Wu said when speaking about the illegal award of the South China Sea arbitration in July 2016.

Rommel Banlaoi, president of the Philippine Society for International Security Studies, said the award has jeopardized Philippine relations with China and complicated the geopolitical situation in the South China Sea.

"The South China Sea should not be the source of our division. In ancient times, the sea linked and united Filipinos and Chinese," Banlaoi said. "The best way to settle disputes is through dialogue and consultations. The key factor for that is to rebuild confidence."

Held by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies and the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, the event attracted over 150 experts, scholars and other representatives of more than 10 countries and regions, including China, Indonesia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), signed in 2002 by China and ASEAN member states, outlines the most important principles in the management of disputes over the South China Sea. Consultations on the COC were launched between the two sides in 2013. Both the DOC and the COC are aimed at safeguarding peace and stability in the region.