South China Sea row is a ‘knot’ in relations that Manila must untie: Beijing

Foreign minister Wang Yi said the Philippines’ case against China at an arbitration tribunal over rival claims in the South China Sea had strained relations between Beijing and Manila, and it was up to the Philippines to improve ties.

The arbitration case in The Hague was “a knot that has impeded the improvement and development of Sino-Philippine relations”, a statement on the foreign ministry’s website cited Wang as saying in Manila.

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“We do not want this knot to become tighter and tighter, so that it even becomes a dead knot,” Wang, who was in the Philippines for talks on Tuesday, said. “As for how to loosen or open the knot, [we’ll] have to look to the Philippines.”

Beijing’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea is shown on Chinese maps with a nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the waterway.

For years, Beijing has insisted that disputes with rival claimants be handled bilaterally.

In a legal setback for Beijing, the arbitration court in the Netherlands ruled late last month that it had jurisdiction to hear some territorial claims the Philippines had filed against China over disputed areas in the South China Sea.

The Philippine government has welcomed the decision and its foreign affairs department said yesterday it would pursue the case “to its logical conclusion”.