Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

Palestine has expressed its support towards China’s sovereignty over the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, and will not accept settlement of the dispute through compulsory arbitration.

Abbas Zaki, member of Fatah's central committee, made the comment in an exclusive interview with CCTV in Ramallah. Zaki described the Philippines’ unilateral action of filing an international arbitration on the South China Sea dispute as unreasonable. He said that the arbitration will be useless when settling the dispute.

"China has settled territorial issues with 12 of its 14 neighbors through negotiation. I believe that the Chinese government has the capability and wisdom to solve this territorial dispute, through a negotiated settlement, which eventually will lead to future friendly relations. China and the Philippines need to make a joint commitment, when signing the Declaration on the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, stating that the South China Sea issue should be settled through friendly negotiations and peace talks, rather than resort to coercion or force," said Abbas Zaki, member of Fatah's Central Committee.