China's announcement about marking its territorial sea around Huangyan Dao, an atoll in the South China Sea, is a natural and appropriate step in the country's consistent safeguarding of its territorial integrity and its commitment to dialogue, said a Chinese researcher.
The Chinese government on Sunday issued a statement regarding the baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to China's Huangyan Dao.
A foreign ministry spokesperson said later on Sunday that the island has always been China's territory, stressing that the territorial delimitations were made in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone.
During a China Global Television Network (CGTN) program, Rong Ying, a senior research fellow at China Institute of International Studies, said that the announcement reflects the country's long-held position and its continued efforts to improve administrative efficiency in the South China Sea.
"Huangyan Dao has been an integral part of China's territory. So this is only natural, justifiable, reasonable and appropriate for China to release at a time appropriate the baselines and base points of the territory waters of Huangyan Dao. So that announcement and, of course, the implementation of Chinese petitions, will help the relevant institutions to implement, to enforce the necessary steps in terms of better management," said Rong.
Also on Sunday, the China Coast Guard said that it will continuously strengthen patrols and law enforcement in territorial waters off Huangyan Dao and relevant waters, as the atoll is an inherent part of China's territory.
However, according to Rong, cooperation and dialogue remain the primary means of resolving tensions in the South China Sea.
"China has always maintained a kind of consultation and dialogue for managing and resolving territorial disputes, any disputes with any countries. But in the meantime, China has made it very clear and has been very resolute in safeguarding its legitimate rights and territorial integrity. And on the question of South China Sea, again, I think China's very clear is ready to talk with relevant parties to address, to manage the territorial disputes. So I think it is very clear that cooperation will benefit everybody. Confrontation, everybody is going to lose," he said.
China's delimitations around South China Sea island reasonable, appropriate: expert
