Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the country's stance on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, saying that only negotiations between the countries involved must be taken to resolve the festering issue.

Xi said that countries outside the South China Sea region including the US have no role in the disputes and should not meddle in the affairs of other countries.

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"We insist we should peacefully resolve the disputes through friendly consultations and negotiations with other parties directly involved," he said.

Xi, who spoke before foreign ministers from Asia and Middle East in a conference on interaction and confidence building in Asia last Thursday in Beijing, said negotiations and friendly dialogues with the claimant-countries were the only way to go in resolving the South China Sea row.

Verdict

Xi's views and comments came as an arbitration tribunal in Hague is scheduled to hand down its ruling next month on a territorial case filed by the Philippines against China.

Even before the start of arbitration, China said that it will not participate in the case and will not abide by whatever judgment the court will hand down saying it has no jurisdiction on the matter.

China's massive reclamation work on its controlled islands has raised tensions in the region with the US accusing Beijing of militarizing the disputed South China Sea.

Air and naval patrols

The US has been conducting air and naval patrols near the China-controlled islands invoking "freedom of navigation" that have infuriated Beijing, calling them "acts of provocation."

China lays claim to almost the entirety of the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, an international waterway where $5 trillion of ship-borned trade passes through each year.

Other countries claiming part of the disputed waters include Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan. 

TagsSouth China Sea row, Hague, President Xi Jinping, "acts of provocation"