18 January 2014 - The Hainan fisheries law is only one of the unilateral measures by China to force a change in the regional status quo in order to advance its nine-dash line position of undisputed sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea. 

The nine-dash line claim is in gross violation of international law. It is the core issue that must be singularly and fully addressed. To this end, we reiterate our invitation to China to join us in arbitration as we intend to proceed with or without China for a final disposition. 

In 2011, we had proposed to China that we should proceed with moving forward with our major bilateral agenda while abstracting the contentious issues and dealing with them separately. This became the content of a signed declaration between the Philippine and Chinese presidents then. We are hopeful for adherence to that agreement. END