Secondly, the Philippine government’s decision to seek an arbitration from an Arbitration Tribunal was not a sensible way to solve the disputes. Article 280 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) says, “Nothing in this part impairs the right of any States Parties to agree at any time to settle a dispute between them concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention by any peaceful means of their own choice.” Article 281 says, “If the States Parties which are parties to a dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention have agreed to seek settlement of the dispute by a peaceful means of their own choice, the procedures provided for in this Part apply only where no settlement has been reached by recourse to such means and the agreement between the parties does not exclude any further procedure.” Article 283 says, “When a dispute arises between States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, the parties to the dispute shall proceed expeditiously to an exchange of views regarding its settlement by negotiation or other peaceful means.” In a nutshell, the above-said articles strongly propose that the parties directly concerning the disputes shall exhaust all the means of settlement through peaceful consultations and negotiations.

　　事实上，菲律宾曾在与中国的双边文件中同意通过双边谈判方式解决相关争议。此外，2002年中国与包括菲律宾在内的东盟成员国签署的《南海各方行为宣言》(DOC)第四条明确规定，“有关各方承诺，由直接相关的主权国家通过友好谈判协商，以和平方式解决领土与管辖权争议”。菲政府与中国也曾在2011年发表联合声明，重申以谈判协商方式解决争议。仅仅一年后，菲律宾在未事先告知中国、未取得中方同意的情况下，出人意料地单方面提起仲裁。菲律宾这种公然反悔、背信弃义的做法实在有违理性。

　　As a matter of fact, the Philippines did reach agreement with China in their bilateral documents that the two countries should resolve relevant disputes through bilateral negotiations. In addition, Paragraph 4 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed by China and ASEAN Member States, including the Philippines in 2002, also clearly states that “the parties concerned undertake to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned.” As a matter of fact, the Philippine government issued a statement jointly with China even in 2011, undertaking to resolve disputes through negotiations and consultations. Just one year later, however, the Philippines unexpectedly initiated arbitration unilaterally, without informing China in advance or acquiring China’s consent. This blatant action of dishonoring of and reneging on its own commitments can hardly be described as a sensible one.

　　同时，菲律宾单方提起仲裁的行为也侵犯了中国作为《海洋法》缔约国自主选择争端解决方式的权利。菲方提起的仲裁，实质上是关于领土主权与海洋划界问题，而领土问题一向属国际法而非《海洋法》管辖。关于海洋划界，中国也已根据《海洋法》第298条作出排除性声明，表明该问题不适用《海洋法》争端解决机制。很显然，菲律宾的指控没有任何法理依据。

　　It must also be pointed out that, the unilateral initiation of arbitration by the Philippines is a violation of the right to seeking dispute settlement of its own choices that China enjoys as a State Party to UNCLOS. The Philippines’ requests of arbitration, in essence, are about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. As a common knowledge, territorial issues are subject to general international law, not UNCLOS. On the other hand, on the maritime delimitation, China has made a declaration of optional exceptions in accordance with the Article 298 of UNCLOS, which explicitly excludes disputes concerning maritime delimitation from the UNCLOS dispute settlement procedures. Now it’s quite clear that the Philippines has no legal or sensible ground to stand on for its allegations.

　　综上所述，《海洋法》争端解决机制对中菲两国争议并不适用。国际仲裁庭对该问题没有管辖权，其执意插手实为滥用权力。因此中国不承认、不接受这一自始至终都是非法的仲裁。

　　Based on all the reasons mentioned above, the settlement procedure provided for in UNCLOS does not apply to the disputes between China and the Philippines. The Arbitral Tribunal has no jurisdiction on this issue and its handling of the case is willful expansion and abuse of power. Therefore, China does not accept or recognize such arbitration which has been illegal from the very beginning.

　　第三，菲律宾政府的行为是极不负责任的。中国有句俗语：“人来人往，邻居不变。”这也是国家间关系的真实写照。自古以来，中国就奉行睦邻友好的外交政策，过去几十年已通过友好协商谈判与大多数邻国划定了陆地边界。中国与菲律宾是近邻，长期保持传统友谊。中方相信与菲律宾在南海问题上的争议应该而且只能通过双边谈判协商解决。唯有如此，解决方案才能持久并经受住历史的检验。中国虽然对南海岛礁拥有无可争议的主权，但考虑到中菲两国间确实存在争议，还是继续主张“搁置争议、共同开发”。菲方应感谢中方这一友好提议，而不是相反。

　　Thirdly, the Philippine government’s action can hardly be seen as being a responsible one. As we say in China, “people can come and go, but neighbors stay.” This saying is especially true for a country. China has, since ancient times, adopted a good neighborly foreign policy and has settled its land boundaries with most of its neighbors in the past decades through friendly consultation and negotiations. China and the Philippines are close neighbors and have enjoyed long-time traditional friendship. China is confident that its disputes with the Philippines in the South China Sea should and can only be settled through bilateral consultation and negotiation. Only in this way, can the settlement be lasting and stand the test of times. Even though China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, bearing in mind that the two countries do have disputes on the issue, it still advocates to shelve the disputes for the time being and engage in joint development. This act of good intentions should be appreciated by the Philippines, not the contrary.

　　对菲律宾来说，菲政府应当摒弃其单边仲裁要求，与中国进行和平真诚的谈判协商，以实现争端的持久与和谐解决。菲律宾政府应认识到，它在处理涉领土与海洋划界等敏感问题时，应对整个国家和人民以及子孙后代的利益负责，而不应仅考虑个人得失、选举需要、少数利益集团的利益，以及毫不相关的域外国家的利益。

　　The Philippine government, on its part, should abandon its unilateral initiation of arbitration and start to engage in peaceful and sincere consultation and negotiation with China, with an aim of achieving a lasting and harmonious settlement of the disputes. It should realize that when dealing with such sensitive issues as territory and maritime delimitation, the Government should bear in mind that its action should be responsible for its whole country, whole people, and many generations of its people to come, not just for the sake of personal gains or elections, or for the interests of small interest groups, not to mention for the interest of some other countries which are not directly concerned in the South China Sea.

　　我相信，当菲律宾政府的决策者开始以诚实、理性和负责任的方式来处理南海争议时，中菲两国就该问题达成双方都接受的解决方案的日子就不会太远了。

　　I believe, when honesty, sense and responsibility do become the guiding principle of the relevant decision-makers in the Philippine government in dealing with the South China Sea disputes, the day when a settlement agreed upon and accepted by both sides will not be faraway.

（编辑：何莹莹）