MANILA, Philippines – China remains convinced that a bilateral negotiation, and not international arbitration, is the best way to settle its territorial dispute with a “good neighbor” and long-standing “friend” like the Philippines.

“A resort to arbitration does not meet people’s expectations for friendship in both China and the Philippines,” said Zhang Hua, spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Manila, in a statement sent to the media on Thursday, April 2.

In the lengthy statement, Zhang explained why China rejected the pleading filed by the Philippines with an arbitral tribunal against the country’s claim on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

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