Rejecting the claims of Vietnam and other maritime neighbours over the South China Sea, China today said it has indisputable sovereignty over the area for over 2000 years and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) cannot be applicable to it.
Facing flak from the US, Japan and others over its arrerstive maritime policy in the contested waters, Deputy Chief of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Wang Guanzhong said China historically had sovereignty over the South China Sea.
He was addressing the last day of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Though China is a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and fully respects it, the 1982 treaty cannot be retrospectively applicable to China which had controlled the area for over 2000 years, state-run CCTV reported.
His comments come in the backdrop of Vietnam threatning to take the South China Sea dispute to international arbitration under the UNCLOS.
Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei along with Taiwan strongly contest China's claims over the South China Sea.
US has said it backs their demand for settlement of the dispute without taking a position on the claims and counter- claims.
"The UNCLOS is not suited to determining the ownership of islands and reefs. Maritime law is a vast and rich legal system that includes more than just the United Nations Convention", Wang said.
In addition, maritime law is not the only standard for adjusting rights of different countries, he said adding that it is incorrect to depend only on UNCLOS.
"China has signed the Convention and fully respects it. But the US has not signed it because it doesn't benefit them. It is nonsense for the US to be talking about the issue of a convention that they have not even signed," he added.
Signed in 1982, the UNCLOS defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.
