Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has urged the Philippines to return to the negotiating table to find a solution to the South China Sea issue. He also called on countries outside the region to 'stop playing with fire.' Liu made the remarks in a signed article published in the broadsheet, The Daily Telegraph. Liu pointed out that the arbitration process was started unilaterally by the Philippines as an attempt to legitimize their illegal occupation of the Nansha islands and reefs, but territorial sovereignty is not within the scope of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China made a declaration in 2006 in accordance with UNCLOS to exclude maritime delimitation from compulsory arbitration. China will not participate in the arbitration process over maritime demarcation. Liu called on countries outside the region to stop interfering in the issue. He also called on the Philippines to return to "face to face" negotiations in order to resolve the problem.