After the Permanent Court of Arbitration made an award unfavorable to China in the South China Sea case filed by the Philippines against China on July 12, Manila exercised restraint and expressed its willingness to carry out bilateral political talks with China as soon as possible.

The Chinese government has responded in a positive manner. But as expected, the dialogue has met obstacles even before starting. The two diverge over the basis of the dialogue. China hoped to set no preconditions for the talks, while the Philippines insists that the talks be held on the basis of the arbitration result. Despite their willingness for talks, the prospects still look dim.

The deadlock lies in whether the arbitration result should serve as the precondition for bilateral talks, as Beijing and Manila hold different views on the case.

China has opposed the unilateral arbitration launched by the Philippines from the very beginning and said it neither accepts nor admits the result. For China, the arbitration and the new Philippine government are two completely different concepts. If talks begin between China and the government of Rodrigo Duterte, it means denial of the arbitration. Therefore, China stresses that the arbitration was made by the previous Philippine government so as to ease the burden of the Duterte administration.

For the Philippines, the arbitration award almost fully supported its requests. Although Duterte has expressed several times a willingness to talk with China, he is utilizing the arbitration result in his country's favor as the precondition for the talks.

However, the result doesn't necessarily serve to be the precondition for bilateral talks. The South China Sea dispute is not the whole of Sino-Philippine relations. The two have enormous potential to cooperate in infrastructure investment and anti-drug campaigns. These two areas have nothing to do with the arbitration.

Only when the two put aside territorial disputes can they seek joint development. "Putting aside disputes and seeking joint development" has long been China's policy on the South China Sea. Given the divergences between China and the Philippines over the arbitration, the result should not be made the precondition for talks if both countries aim at joint development.

The Philippines hopes that China can allow Philippine fishermen to return to Huangyan Island, in which the arbitration result is not necessarily a condition. If China and the Philippines can reach a consensus on this, the situation around this island, of which China has actual control, will just return to what it was before 2012, when Chinese and Philippine fishermen both fished nearby Huangyan Island. They were sharing the resources of the South China Sea. But it does not mean China would make a concession over the arbitration result. There is no precondition for joint development between the two. It is the same with fishing in Huangyan Island and oil and gas exploration in Reed Tablemount, known as Liyue Tan in China.

If the Philippines indeed wants to restart bilateral talks with China, it should show sincerity instead of bargaining with China over the arbitration result like a speculator. The result has only caused trouble, and the Philippines should not create more trouble. It will only run into a dead end if it insists on the result.

Both China and the Philippines have shown their stance on direct talk and Manila has picked former president Fidel Ramos to come to China and initiate diplomatic talks over the South China Sea dispute. The two countries have the ability and wisdom to cope with disputes and reach consensus on fields such as drug crackdown cooperation, sharing of fishing resources around Huangyan Island and jointly developing the ocean.

If there must be a precondition, it should be "putting aside disputes and seeking joint development."

The author is a postdoctoral researcher at School of International Studies, Peking University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn