InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – China on Wednesday called on the Philippines to settle a dispute over Scarborough Shoal through 'friendly consultations', effectively ruling out Manila's call for intervention by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea or ITLOS.
In an e-mail to the Philippines News Agency, Chinese embassy spokesperson Zhang Hua said the Chinese side is aware that the Philippines intends to seek settlement of the dispute via the ITLOS. But Zhang added: "We urge the Philippine side to fully respect China's sovereignty, and commit to the consensus we reached on settling the incident through friendly consultation and not to complicate or aggravate this incident, so that peace and stability in that area can be restored."
In a statement on Tuesday, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called on China to join in the Philippine effort for an ITLOS intervention.
China said it prefers a bilateral approach to settling the dispute.
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