On Jan 22nd , Ambassador Ma Keqing met upon request with Assistant Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Theresa Lasaro. The latter submitted the Note Verbale that the Philippines will initiate arbitral proceedings of South China Sea issue. Ambassador Ma reiterated the principled position of the Chinese side, that China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in South China Sea and its adjacent waters. The Chinese side strongly holds the disputes on South China Sea should be settled by parties concerned through negotiations. This is also the consensus reached by parties concerned in the DOC(The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea).