UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday calls for a peaceful solution to sea dispute between China and some other Asian nations. He told media in UN headquarters in New York that "It is important for those countries in the region to resolve all these issues through dialogue in a peaceful and amicable way,". Ban added that the UN is ready "to provide technical and professional assistance, but primarily all these issues should be resolved by the parties concerned".

Replying to a question about the Philippines' decision to take the territorial dispute with China to a UN tribunal under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the UN chief said he has been following the case "carefully."

Earlier, the Philippines’ Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said that the government summoned the Chinese Ambassador to notify the Chinese Government of the Philippines’ decision. In its petition, Manila asserted that China's so-called nine-dash line claim that encompasses virtually the entire East Sea is contrary to UNCLOS and thus, unlawful. Manila asked Beijing to give up these illegal acts and its violations of Philippines’ sovereignty and jurisdiction in pursuant to the 1982 UNCLOS.