ITLOS involvementThe International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, with responsibility for the regulation of seabed mining beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, and with the power to settle disputes between party states. In May 2012, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) leader Jorge Madlos said in a statement that, "Mindanao views the incursion of China in the West Philippine Sea, particularly in the Scarborough Shoal, as an infringement on the sovereign right and patrimony of the Filipino people. The Chinese government must immediately desist from taking injurious steps against the integrity of the Filipino people.", and urged both Chinese and Filipinos to pressure their respective governments in resolving the shoal dispute through diplomatic means before ITLOS.
In June 2013 it was reported that the Philippines had decided to bring the territorial row before the ITLOS after it had “exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China.â€, saying that it will ask the tribunal to declare China's claims as "invalid." China was reported to have formally rejected arbitration proceedings initiated by the Philippines. According to Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), however, China's refusal will not necessarily impede the proceedings.
As of February 2014, the Philippines had not yet submitted a written pleading to ITLOS, and it was reported that China had offered mutual withdrawal from the shoal and other inducements if the Philippines would refrain from submitting a formal pleading, and that the Philippine position was, “With what's on the table, there's not enough.â€
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