MikeLigalig.com

Following a call by the government of Philippines for international arbitration over the disputed Scarborough Shoal area of the South China Sea, Deng Zhonghua, the head of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs under the Chinese foreign ministry lodged solemn representations on Apr. 28 with Alex G Chua, the Philippines charge d'affaires, reports Duowei News, a US-based website run by overseas Chinese.

According to Deng, Scarborough Shoal — known as Huanyan island in Chinese — is historically part of China, and it is against the international law for the government of the Philippines to call for international arbitration regarding Chinese territory. Deng suggested that China and Philippines should resolve the issue through bilateral talks instead of internationalizing the dispute.

Although the Philippine foreign minister, Albert del Rosario, emphasized that dialogue between Beijing and Manila will continue, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said that the only reason China did not launch an attack against Philippines during the recent standoff between vessels of the two sides was because of the defense treaty signed between Manila and Washington. Enrile said that it is time for the entire nation to rally together under the leadership of President Benigno S Aquino III to fight for the territory of the Philippines against China.

"The Philippines cannot ask the US to back its claim of ownership of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, but if our vessels or aircraft are attacked by another power in the Pacific, then we can invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty otherwise it is meaningless. If they will not come to our rescue, it is better for us to abrogate it," Enrile said.

Before the meeting between Deng and Chua on Staurday, the Philippine charge d'affaires was summoned twice by Chinese vice foreign minister Fu Ying to discuss the issue during the two-week standoff which began after Chinese fishing vessels were intercepted by a Philippine warship in the area, leading to a tense confrontation with Chinese naval vessels. According to Liu Weiming, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, the Philippines should respect the sovereign rights of China in the South China Sea and not complicate the issue by calling for international arbitration.

References:

Deng Zhonghua　　鄧中華

Fu Ying　　傅瑩

Liu Weiming　　劉為民

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20120430000042&cid=1101

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it looks like china won't go for international arbitration because it's the philippines that has the legal and moral claim.  so the chinese want bilateral talks only, which seem more unilateral because they've been dictating that the philippines toe their line. 

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still on china's so-called historical claim of the west philippine sea (south china sea or SCS; i.e. including the spratlys and scarborough shoal), and why it's a lame claim:

Cable 08BEIJING3499, sent to Washington by the US embassy in Beijing in September 9, 2008, said a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) official and a local scholar could not identify specific historical records to justify China's "Nine Dashes" claim that covers the whole Spratlys and areas within other countries' exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

MFA Department of Treaty and Law Oceans and Law of the Sea Division Deputy Director Yin Wenqiang told a US embassy political officer on August 30, 2008 that "China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters."

However, the US official said "Yin admitted he is not aware of the historical basis for the 'Nine Dashes'" and only mentioned unspecified "Chinese historical documents" that indicate the basis for China's claims on territory west of the Philippines, according to the cable.

more at: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/04/20/12/wikileaks-cable-china-cant-prove-spratlys-claim

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for the complete cable about china's historical claims to the south china sea as not being subject to UNCLOS, with thanks to wikileaks, here's the link:

http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08BEIJING3499

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