Photo taken on April 5, 2016 shows the lighthouse on Zhubi Reef of Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, south China. (Xinhua file photo)
BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Foreign officials and experts have echoed China's stance that it has indisputable sovereignty over its South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters.
The Philippines has unilaterally filed an arbitration case against China over South China Sea disputes. China maintains that the tribunal handling of the arbitration proceedings has no jurisdiction over the case, which is in essence about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation.
The following are some of the quotable quotes thereon:
Dureid Yaghi, Vice Chairman of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party
-- China's sovereignty over its islands in the South China Sea is indisputable as it complies with thousands of years' history and international law ... If an ASEAN country resorts to arbitration, it is violating the basis of the agreements and international law, and violates essentially the legal sovereignty of China over the islands.
Abbas Zaki, Fatah official in charge of the Chinese-Palestinian relations
-- China seeks to establish the rules of right and justice through its principled position based on peaceful resolution of disputes that achieve justice and participation among these states.
Giovanni Andornino, vice president at Turin World Affairs Institute
-- Safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity is one of the priorities of China, which has not acted aggressively but has reacted to its perception of the growing interference by the United States and other countries in the South China Sea.
Sergei Luzianin, acting director of Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
-- The United States is creating informal anti-Chinese coalitions or groups to dispute China's sovereignty.
Omar al-Hassan, director of the Gulf Center for Strategic Studies
-- Arab countries appreciate China's stance on issues of territorial sovereignty.
Greg Austin, professor at University of New South Wales Canberra
-- Construction activities in the South China Sea is an exercise of sovereignty by China on the territories it had laid claim on and China has the right to do so.
