Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

For more analysis, we're joined now in the studio by Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department of International and Strategic Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

Q1. As the tension and rhetoric increase in the South China Sea dispute, the international community is calling for a peaceful outcome. Beijing has always said it wants to pursue peaceful negotiations. Why has Manila ruled out any talks?

Q2. Everyone has principles, but one must also be pragmatic and flexible when  it comes to diplomacy. Does that also apply to sovereign claims?  What kind of compromises are needed here?