China has established a joint research center on the South China Sea to strengthen academic and institutional exchanges and promote countries in the region to jointly maintain peace and stability in the sea.
The inaugural ceremony was held on Friday morning in Boao in south China's Hainan Province, site of the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).
The China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea (CSARC) involves well-known think tanks in China and southeast Asian nations such as China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies and Indonesia's Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
"We plan to make the CSARC a platform for discussing the South China Sea issue and a model for maritime research cooperation among countries in the region," said Wu Shicun, president of China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
Wu said the CSARC will invite famous scholars on the South China Sea from home and abroad to be researchers, and it plans to hold frequent international symposiums and academic exchanges.
While speaking at a symposium on the South China Sea, China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin reaffirmed China's commitment to a peaceful solution to the South China Sea issue through consultation and negotiation. Peace and stability in the South China Sea matters China's major interests, as well as the common interests of all coastal countries and countries that use regional sea routes, he said.
Dispute settlement through consultation and negotiation by the involved countries is the key to solving the South China Sea issue.
Liu said a peaceful solution through consultation and negotiation will show the willingness and equality of sovereignty of all countries. It will also be a faithful implementation of international law and basic norms and principles of international relations, as well as the commitment made by China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). It is the fundamental solution to South China Sea disputes.
The vice foreign minister urged all sides to heed the negative impact brought by arbitration unilaterally lodged by the Philippines, and called for a return to the right path in solving disputes to maintain peace and stability.
Echoing Liu's remarks, experts attending the symposium held that it is a permanent solution to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea by solving disputes via consultation and negotiation and that is in the common interest of all sides.
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