BEIJING will not recognise the result of arbitration requested by the Philippines over the two countries’ maritime sovereignty dispute, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “On the issue of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, China will never accept any imposed plan or any solution arrived at by unilaterally resorting to a third party for resolving disputes.”

Manila filed its arbitration case at The Hague in early 2013. The hearing on jurisdiction and admissibility began last week and was concluded on Monday.

China refused to be involved in the proceedings, citing a policy of resolving disputes on territorial sovereignty and maritime rights only through direct consultation and negotiation with the countries involved.

This is common practice in the inter-national community, said Ms Hua, urging the Philippines to negotiate directly with China.