China urges the Philippines to stop playing up South China Sea issue

A Chinese envoy said Monday that the Philippines should stop playing up the South China Sea issue in multilateral fora and should, instead, return to the bilateral track.

In exercising the right of reply at the General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said that with regard to the Philippine statement delivered at the debate on Saturday, China has consistently maintained that the United Nations is not the appropriate forum to discuss the South China Sea issue.

However, he said, China finds it necessary to issue a solemn response to the relevant erroneous claims by the Philippines.

China's position on the so-called "South China Sea arbitration" has been consistent and clear, Sun said. The Philippines' unilateral initiation of arbitration violates fundamental principles of international law, including state consent and pacta sunt servanda, and contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, he said.

The "arbitral tribunal" exceeded its authority and abused its jurisdiction. The so-called "award" it rendered is illegal, null and void. China neither accepts nor recognizes the "award," and opposes and will never accept any claim or action arising from it, said Sun.

This is both to safeguard China's own territorial and maritime rights and interests and to uphold the international maritime rule of law and a fair and equitable international maritime order, he said.

"The Philippine side's hyping of the so-called 'award' ten years after it was issued is meaningless. The fact is that the so-called 'award' not only fails to resolve the maritime issues between China and the Philippines, but has increasingly become a tool for the Philippines to expand its territorial and maritime claims, aggravating regional tensions and becoming a stumbling block in China-Philippines relations and to peace and stability in the South China Sea. On territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes, China does not accept any dispute settlement solution imposed on China, and has consistently advocated resolving disputes through negotiation and consultation with the countries directly concerned," Sun said.

He said China will continue to work with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.

China urges the Philippines to stop playing up the issue in multilateral fora, return as soon as possible to the right track of bilateral consultations, work with China to manage South China Sea disputes, and work together to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea, said Sun

China urges the Philippines to stop playing up South China Sea issue

Thousands of evacuees are sheltering in temporary facilities in Bangkok, unable to return home after heavy rain battered the Thai capital over the weekend, leaving widespread flooding across the city.

In Lat Krabang, on the eastern edge of Bangkok, much of the area remains submerged, with floodwaters reaching neck height in some places. The sprawling district includes housing estates, canal-side communities, factories and major roads. It sits a short distance from the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

While some main roads are beginning to reopen, conditions change dramatically in the smaller communities. Among the hardest hit is a housing estate of around 30,000 residents, where people say they have been without electricity, running water, food and drinking water for nearly four days.

"There are no words for it. Everything is just terrible. Just imagine, there are no working toilets, the children can't shower, and there is no food or drinking water. Everything is just piling up. It is an unbearable situation," said Lhin Ong-orn, a resident.

Many residents have moved to a university campus that would normally be filled with students. Its classrooms and other facilities have been repurposed as a refuge for families with nowhere else to go. The campus has become a displacement center sheltering around 2,000 people, one of more than 200 temporary shelters set up across the capital since the flooding began.

Those brought in include elderly residents, people with limited mobility, and others with injuries or health problems. Many have been evacuated from neighborhoods that remain completely cut off, where basic services have been disrupted and essential supplies remain difficult to deliver.

"The water level kept fluctuating, and my father is ill, requiring an oxygen machine around the clock. After the power was cut off on the evening of September 26, the oxygen machine couldn't work. We decided we had to get out, so I contacted rescue foundations to help evacuate my family," said Kittiphong Singhsae, a resident.

Thailand's nationwide flooding since Sept 16 has left eight people dead, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said Monday.

Twenty-eight provinces, including Bangkok, are still affected, mainly in Thailand's central, northern, eastern and northeastern regions. Between Sept 16 and 28, flooding swept through 42 provinces, affecting 1.8 million people, according to the department.

Thousands left without food, power amid severe floods in Bangkok