China has long supported and encouraged friendly consultations and negotiations to resolve territorial and jurisdictional disputes. Since the establishment of New China, China has signed border treaties with 12 of its 14 land neighbors, delimiting a border line of over 20,000 kilometers. China spent 40 years negotiating with the Soviet Union (Russia) about boundary problems, took 30 years to solve the border demarcation issue with Vietnam, and spent 20 years’ in negotiations to settle the demarcation of the North Gulf. China always holds consultations and negotiations with its neighbors on maritime issues.

Having friendly consultations and negotiations with the states directly concerned on territorial and jurisdictional disputes follows International Law and international practice. According to The Charter of the United Nations, consultations and negotiations through sovereign states are the preferred choices to solve disputes. It is also noted in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that sovereign states should directly resolve disputes through negotiation. In terms of dispute resolution throughout the world, most border issues have been resolved by the sovereign states directly concerned.

The other "track" of this approach is that China and the ASEAN countries should jointly maintain the peace and stability of the South China Sea. For years, these countries have positively maintained the peace and stability of the South China Sea through regulations, cooperation, and building the appropriate mechanisms. China has signed the DOC with ASEAN countries, built joint working groups to implement the Declaration, and set up a 3 billion yuan China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund to support cooperation.

This article is edited and translated from 《坚持以“双轨思路”处理南海问题》，source: People's Daily