China's envoy calls for peace, stability in the South China Sea

After the United States has committed itself to defending the Philippines if Filipino forces were attacked in the South China Sea, China's envoy on Wednesday called for peace and stability in the disputed waters.

"Maybe that you would expect the Chinese side to be very concerned about these remarks. We are concerned more, it’s about the peace and stability in the South China Sea," Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua told reporters in Malacañang.

"Everybody, every country will suffer if peace and stability becomes something to the opposite, that it’s chaos or conflict."

Zhao said maintaining peace and stability as well as freedom of navigation in the South China Sea should be the "common interest" of China, the US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

"Well, we are worried about possible attacks from the other side. We don’t worry about China attacking anybody because it is not our policy," the ambassador said when asked if there was a need to be worried about possible attacks in the South China Sea.

Asked to clarify what he meant by "the other side," Zhao said: "Use your imagination."

China, which considers the sea dispute a purely Asian issue and was opposed to any other foreign power involvement, particularly from the US.

Nevertheless, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's said last week that the South China Sea, where the Philippines and China are locked in years-long territorial row, was covered by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Pompeo also said that China’s “island-building and military acts” in the area threatened the Philippines’ and the US' sovereignty, security and economic livelihood.

Although the US is not a party to the disputes, it has declared in the past that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation, trade and peace and stability in the South China Sea, where a bulk of the world’s trade passes through.

The United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal in July 2016 ruling invalidated China's excessive claims in the South China Sea following a suit filed by the Philippines.

Beijing refused to recognize the ruling, which was temporarily set aside by President Rodrigo Duterte in order to forge closer ties with China, the world's second largest economy.

Calls for an early conclusion to a code of conduct in the resource-rich waters have increased in recent years due to a series of confrontations between China and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors with overlapping territorial claims, especially Vietnam and the Philippines.

Other claimants include Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. — DVM, GMA News