Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he welcomes Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's announcement on Thursday that he plans to send former President Fidel Ramos as a special envoy to China to negotiate with Beijing after an international arbitral court ruling rejected China's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

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Mainland analysts say Manila and Beijing hope to decrease tension by holding talks through their respective envoys after the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling dealt a major blow to China. There have been concerns that Beijing would opt to use force to stake its claims in the disputed territory.

Beijing has since denounced the ruling saying that it will resolve the South China Sea dispute only through bilateral talks and negotiations with Manila and other claimants which will not be based on the recent ruling of the Hague-based court.

Provocative moves

As it seeks to de-escalate tensions, Beijing has called on all parties to refrain from any provocative actions in the South China Sea region.

Duterte said Ramos was the 'perfect choice' to initiate talks with Beijing on the dispute insisting that war was not an option.

Although Ramos is yet to accept the offer, Lu said he looked forward to negotiations with the Philippines 'very soon.'

"The door to settling the issue through dialogue and negotiation has never been closed," Lu stressed.

PCA

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) last Tuesday ruled that China has no legal basis to its claims to the South China Sea under its nine-dash line. The court said that China's territorial claims violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the sovereign rights of the Philippines.

However, Beijing has said that it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court, dismissing the ruling as 'null and void' and a 'farce.'

Political analysts said the impending talks between the two nations would ease tensions and would improve bilateral relations dramatically since Manila filed the case before the arbitral court in 2013.

Analysts said there has been no 'high-level contact' between the two sides for quite some time since ties have been frayed following Manila's filing of the case three years ago.

Suitable envoy

Zhang Mingliang, a Southeast Asian affairs expert at Jinan University, said Ramos would be a suitable special envoy considering his knowledge of Sino-Philippine ties and his vast experience in the dispute.

"By publicly making the suggestion, Duterte indicated Manila was aware of the need to launch talks,"  Zhang said.

Su Hao, China Foreign Affairs University professor, said that President Duterte could still send someone else if Ramos declines the offer.

"But the priority now is to ease tensions first before finding solutions to the South China Sea dispute," Su said.

Su said that as Duterte wanted, Beijing's discussions with Manila on China's assistance to build a high-speed railway could start 'any time.'

Su said Manila and Beijing would likely start the talks when they see eye-to-eye in future meeting of foreign ministers in Laos next week. 

TagsManila envoy, South China Sea, PCA ruling, President Xi Jinping, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, china