China National Radio:

One viewpoint is that the arbitration award can help claim the point of each party and narrow differences, and will become a basis for resolving the dispute through diplomatic means. What do you think about this?

Liu Zhenmin:

Over the past three years, we have reiterated that the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction and the award has no binding force and is illegal, null and void. How can such an unjust, null and void award become a basis for narrowing differences? As we see that the arbitration was made to deny China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and to legalize the Philippines' own propositions and actions, it is an extreme and unjust award. How can it help narrow the difference and claim the points of related parties? So, I hold that it is impossible for the extreme, unjust and illegal arbitration to become a basis for narrowing the difference. The basis should be that all parties pay respect to historical facts and international laws. How can we resolve the issue? We need to resort to negotiation, which can truly help narrow the difference and yield positive results. That is China's consistent policy and what we have practiced with success. We have delimited land boundary with 12 of 14 neighboring countries, and this requires a process since both the parties involved had conflicting claims at the beginning. We marked off the maritime boundary of the Beibu Gulf with Vietnam, which was a process of narrowing differences. Therefore, narrowing differences and clarifying claims should be carried out on the platform of negotiation, on the basis of respecting historical facts and acting according to international law. There is no other way. Thank you.