BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese spokesperson on Friday rebuked U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remarks on the impending "arbitration" of the South China Sea issue, saying the United States is in no position to criticize China.
On Thursday, Blinken told a House of Representatives hearing in Washington that China "can't have it both ways," by being a party to the convention but rejecting its provisions, including "the binding nature of any arbitration decision."
He was referring to a case brought by the Philippines to initiate compulsory arbitration proceedings with respect to "maritime jurisdiction" in the South China Sea.
"Regretfully, I have to say that Mr. Blinken may be misinformed about the essence of the South China Sea disputes and the content of the the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or he was wrongly labeling China deliberately," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing.
China has repeatedly reiterated that it will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration initiated by the Philippines.
Hua said on Friday that the South China Sea issue is about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, adding that the Philippines was denying China's territorial sovereignty over some islands and reefs and maritime rights in the South China Sea.
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