VIENNA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- An Austrian expert has said that arbitration cannot solve the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines.
"It is a principle of international law that all sides must agree on the arbitration," Padraig Lysaght said in a recent interview with Xinhua. "Otherwise, the result of the arbitration is not binding."
The Philippines unilaterally filed in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, the Netherlands, an arbitration case against China over South China Sea disputes in January 2013.
China maintains that the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the case, which is in essence about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation.
"It is perfectly legal to simply not accept this award. I don't think the award can solve the problem," Lysaght said, adding that modern international law cannot provide a suitable solution to every problem.
Meanwhile, Lysaght, a historian who wrote his dissertation about the South China Sea, said historical arguments should not be completely discarded in the South China Sea dispute.
Read the full story at Xinhua