Construction activities in the South China Sea is an exercise of sovereignty by China on the territories it had laid claim on and China has the right to do so, Greg Austin, professor at University of New South Wales Canberra, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
As the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is about to issue its ruling on a case brought by the Philippines on South China Sea disputes, Austin pointed out that there is no room for the Permanent Court to make a new law.
"All the court will be doing is restating what we all know to be existing customary international law, or the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," he said.
The South China Sea issue clearly involves two very separate issues, one is the sovereignty dispute around the Nansha Islands and one is the maritime rights dispute which is covered by UNCLOS, which China is a signatory to.
The two issues are "very dangerous combination," said the professor.
"There are no easy solutions by the international laws when the combinations of the two disputes exists. While the Philippines are quite within its rights to use UNCLOS, that will not answer any questions of territorial sovereignty and the Permanent Court will make no judgment and can make no judgment on territorial sovereignty."
He said the court "will not and can not jeopardize China's interests", because the court can not find anything contrary to the international law, and it can not create new international law.
"We have UNCLOS, we have the customary international law. They won't change at the ruling of the court. It existed before the court, it will exist after the court."
"All the court is going to say is what the law is. So it will not be like deciding a line is drawn here or a line is drawn there. It will really be a restatement of what we all know here an explicable international law."
Looking back history, Austin, who has been studying Chinese diplomacy for 30 years, said China made claims on the Nansha Islands a long time ago.
"I support China's assertion to its sovereignty claims," he said.
China has been building airfield in the South China Sea. But China was not the first to do it. Vietnam and the Philippines all have military airfields on the Nansha Islands.
It is because China had built an airfield that is much more superior than the others that it drew more attention.
Unfortunately, China's move in the South China Sea came alongside with U.S. strategy of pivot or rebalance to Asia.
"I think it is fair to say it is not a good combination of geopolitics. We do have a problem. It's a time for all countries to reduce tension."
"I'm in favor of whatever can be done to reduce tension," he said.
Despite the great difference between China and the United States on the South China Sea issue, Austin believed there will be no confrontation between the two countries.
"The level of cooperative collaboration between the U.S. and China is almost galactic whereas this South China Sea dispute is a really small localized dispute. The future of East Asia and the Pacific is a continuation and deepening of this almost galactic cooperation, trade, exchange and investment. We have to find a way to ensure the smaller dispute in the South China Sea does not spoil the bigger picture."
Austin said China has shown in the past great flexibility in its diplomacy, which is also needed in solving the South China Sea dispute.
"We saw recently the return of Philippine fishermen to the Scaborough Shoal (Huangyan Dao) after the election of the new Philippine president. Clearly, China is taking a softer line to the new Philippine president."
Austin said he expected in two to three years' time, the South China Sea issue will not be as a hot issue as it is today.
