Noting that the talks also touched on the issues relating to the South China Sea, Ban said that as Secretary-General, he can not comment on the arbitration case for which a ruling may be reached shortly.
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China has been angered by USA patrols in the South China Sea in recent months and on Tuesday launched what the Defense Ministry termed “routine” military drills there. He repeated Beijing’s position that the disputes should be resolved through negotiations with countries directly involved.
“As China continues along the path of transformation and reform, I encourage China’s leaders to create the space needed for the civil society to play its crucial role”, Ban said.
Although Taiwan is not a party to the case, its claims in the South China Sea are similar to those of China, and Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba), which is controlled by Taiwan, was brought up in testimony during the court hearings.
China hopes to take the opportunity during Ban Ki-moon’s visit to further consolidate and deepen bilateral cooperation with the UN.
“I think hostile forces in the US worked together to make this case”, said Yongnian Zheng, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, in an English-language YouTube series posted by The People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper.
Ahead of the tribunal ruling, diplomatic sources said Asia-Pacific foreign ministers are preparing to call both China and the USA to dial down tensions over the matter.
Bonnie Glaser, the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNBC the Chinese “do care very much, particularly the possibility that their nine-dash line claim could be ruled inconsistent with the [United Nations] Convention on the Law of the Sea”. -Philippine treaty, which calls for the allies to help defend each other if there is an armed attack on their armed forces, public vessels, aircraft or island territories under their jurisdiction in the Pacific.
According to the Financial Times, the last time a fire-control radar was allegedly engaged in the East China Sea was in January 2013, when Japan’s defence ministry said a Chinese frigate had locked a weapons radar on to a Japanese destroyer, calling the incident “a unilateral, provocative act and extremely regrettable”.
Willett said the ruling in the case would not resolve sovereignty issues, but could potentially narrow down the areas that are legitimately subject to dispute. “So my recommendation for the Chinese government is to give the current government a chance to explore innovative ways on how to deal with China bilaterally”.
The People’s Daily editorial comes as Beijing ramps up efforts to assert its stance ahead of a ruling by an global tribunal in a case filed by the Philippines challenging China’s claims to most of the South China Sea.
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“We in China would not be intimidated by the USA actions, not even if the U.S. sent all the 10 aircraft carriers to the South China Sea”, Dai said. While it’s a member of that treaty, China argues it does not apply in this case, refused to participate in the proceedings and declared it will not comply with any judgement.
