Former State councilor Dai Bingguo: 'urgent' need to halt arbitration

The Philippines "must be dissuaded from making any further provocation in the South China Sea, or otherwise China will not sit by idly", a former senior Chinese leader warned on Tuesday.

Former State Councilor Dai Bingguo made the remark in his keynote speech at a dialogue on the South China Sea between Chinese and US think tanks on Tuesday in Washington.

Dai said that "the urgent priority is to stop the arbitration case initiated by the Philippines".

"If the tribunal insisted on its way and produced an 'award', no one and no country should implement the award in any form, much less to force China into implementation," the former top Chinese diplomat said.

Dai became honorary president of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University after retiring from government in 2013.

The dialogue was co-organized by Renmin University's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Chinese ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai and former US ambassador to China J. Stapleton Roy, as well as experts from China and the US, attended the event.

Dai said that although China possesses the ability to recover the islands that were illegally occupied by other countries, "in the interest of regional peace and stability, China has all along exercised enormous restraint".

The talks on the sea were held as the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, established at Manila's unilateral request despite China's objection, was scheduled to announce its ruling on the South China Sea arbitration case on July 12. The US, a major ally of Manila, has publicly pressed Beijing to accept the ruling.

Dai said the South China Sea might sink into chaos, and so might all of Asia, if the momentum of provocation in the region goes unchecked.

Urging the concerned parties to "not allow Asia to become another West Asia and North Africa", the soft-spoken Dai warned that "anyone intent on fueling the flames and unleashing disastrous outcomes will be held accountable by history".

Dai also said that China would not be intimidated by US actions, "not even if the US sent 10 aircraft carriers to the South China Sea".

"To be blunt, when the US states today that it does not take a position on issues of territory, it actually amounts to backpedaling and defiance of the postwar international order, which the US itself participated in building."

He said that the Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands, illegally occupied by Japan during World War II, were restored to China after the war in accordance with the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

"Many of you were probably not aware of this, but China's actions to restore the islands were supported by General Douglas MacArthur," Dai said.

After Japan's surrender, China's military and government personnel were ferried by US-provided military vessels to Xisha and Nansha Islands to hold the restoration ceremony.

"After that, the US filed applications to Chinese authorities on Taiwan to conduct geodetic survey in some of Nansha Islands on many occasions," he said.

"All this shows that the return of Nansha Islands to China is part of the postwar international order and relevant territorial arrangements," Dai pointed out.

Ambassador Roy said there are some very constructive elements in Dai's speech, and he highlighted three points.

"One is both sides try to lower the temperature in the South China Sea, that's very important," he said.

"Secondly, he (Dai) said that territory issues should be resolved peacefully through negotiations, not through the use of force; that's an important part of China's position, and I think we need to pay attention to it," Roy continued.

"The third point was China and the United States should work cooperatively on this issue; that's a very important point also."

Shi Yinhong, an expert on US studies at Renmin University of China, said that if there are provocations from either the Philippines or the US and others after the ruling.

"China will certainly respond, in both diplomatic and military ways".

William Jones, Washington bureau chief for Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), said Dai gave an excellent speech and presentation of the Chinese position.

"I hope it is widely understood and widely read by people in the (US) administration, although sometimes I doubt whether they will change their views," Jones said.

"But I think it's very important because he addressed on one hand the necessity of avoiding a conflict in the region over this issue.

"But (Dai) also criticized the position that China would have to accept what the US has been calling the international law but which many legal scholars and many countries don't consider binding on China."

Myron Nordquist, associate director and editor of the Center for Oceans Law and Policy at the University of Virginia School of Law, said he believes the US is behind the issue "because it wants to get back to the military base it was kicked out of".

Niu Yue in Washington and Chen Weihua in Hawaii contributed to this story.

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