This handout photo taken on March 17, 2015 by satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe and released to AFP by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSSI) think tank shows a satellite image of vessels purportedly dredging sand at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. The series of satellite images posted on the website of the Center for Strategic and International Studies last week show a flotilla of Chinese vessels dredging sand onto Mischief Reef and the resulting land spreading in size. Beijing on April 9 reaffirmed its right to build on the disputed islands after the satellite imagery emerged of construction operations turning tropical reefs into concrete artificial islands. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have overlapping claims in the area. (AFP Photo / CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative / DigitalGlobe)
MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese ambassador says Beijing has stood pat in its decision to reject international arbitration to resolve a disagreement with the Philippines over the South China Sea.
An international tribunal in The Hague will start formal hearings Tuesday to address China’s contention that the five-member arbitration body does not have authority to assume jurisdiction over Manila’s complaint against Beijing.
Ambassador Zhao Jianhua told reporters Monday that Beijing would stick to its decision not to participate in arbitration and instead renewed China’s offer to resolve the conflict through one-on one-negotiation with the Philippines.
In its complaint, the Philippines has asked the tribunal to declare China’s claims to much of the South China Sea as invalid under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
