Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

CCTV has interviewed Antonio Valdes, former Philippine Education Under-secretary. He has questioned the fairness of the arbitral award on South China Sea. 

For Valdes, the arbitration is unreasonable, as it took place with the absence of one party.

He said, "Because they have two parties to have the decision, if one party is not participating and you only have one party. what kind of decision will you be making. That is not decision."

"And you have not the right by the other party have the judicial decision over the issue which is (not)correct. Arbitration is really useless and irrelevant."

"We should be negotiating with China before. but President Aquino is not thinking right. He was not a right leader for us, so he insisted on the arbitration. Because he is following the US. Because the US promised him two ships. They are not really warships."

And the former undersecretary pointed out the clearest example of the unfairness of the award is that it degraded Taiping Island to a rock. The largest island of the Nansha Islands is now under Taiwan's administration.

Valdes also said, "They have put their airstrips there. They have hospitals. They have two other buildings here. They have their own water source here. and yet according to the arbitration it clearly says this is not an island. Are they blind, are they stupid?"

He also warned against actions by the United States, and its ally Japan.

He added, "The US and Western press will use this to demonize China, and make China look bad. That's the way of the US and western press."

"They have done this to Iraq. They have done this to Libya. They are doing this to Syria. They are doing that to Russia."

"And now thinking over countries in different ways, demonizing, making the world think somebody is bad when he is not. And then look for allies to support their attack to this person. They are going to this as we know to China."

Valdes also expressed concern over regional tension stirred up by the US.