Beijing is still willing to show the "greatest sincerity" to resolve the island impasse through diplomacy with Manila, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday.

Huangyan Island has been its undisputable territory since ancient times and the waters around the island have been a traditional Chinese fishery, Deng Zhonghua, director of the department of boundary and ocean affairs with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a Tuesday interview with Phoenix TV.

"Our fishermen and fishing boats' safety must be ensured and our fishermen's dignity should not be offended and their regular fishery operations should not be interrupted or blocked," Deng said.

China and the Philippines are close neighbors with seawater in between, and have enjoyed friendly contact for more than 1,000 years, Deng added.

"We have 1,000 reasons to ensure and develop the bilateral traditional friendship and we are not expected to have any excuse to breach the relation," he said.

China and the Philippines are expected to cooperate and achieve a win-win situation. "Despite the fact that the Philippine side humiliated barehanded Chinese fishermen with armed forces, we remained restrained to deal with the situation," said Deng.

On April 10, a Philippine warship entered the island's territorial waters, dispatched personnel to harass Chinese fishing boats and attempted to detain the Chinese fishermen.

China said the move infringed China's sovereignty. Two Chinese patrol ships in the area later came to the fishermen's rescue and the warship left.

But the impasse continued as Philippine vessels were reported to be still in China's territorial waters on Tuesday.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Fu Ying summoned Alex Chua, the charge d'affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Beijing on Monday. The Monday summons was the third following previous ones on April 15 and 18.

【新闻快讯】中国外交部边海司司长邓中华5月8日接受凤凰卫视采访时说，中国依然有极大诚意与菲律宾一道通过外交途径解决黄岩岛争端。邓中华表示，黄岩岛是中国固有领土，其周边海域是中国南海渔民的传统渔场。中国渔民和渔船的安全、尊严不应遭到侵犯，正常的捕捞作业不应被阻挠和禁止。

邓中华称，中菲是以海相隔的近邻，两国间有一千多年友好交往的历史。应该说两国间有一千条理由去维护和发展，中菲的友好传统，中菲两国应该合作创造共赢。也正是基于这样的考虑，中国一直希望与菲方通过和平对话的途径来解决黄岩岛争端。本周一，中国外交部副部长傅莹就黄岩岛问题召见菲律宾驻华大使，这是继4月15日与18日后的第三次召见。

【黄岩岛争端始末】

4月10日，一艘菲律宾军舰闯入中国黄岩岛海域，驱逐中国渔船并试图扣押中国渔民。随后，中国两艘海监船驶抵黄岩岛解救渔民。2012年4月12日，菲律宾不顾中方严正交涉与警告，再向黄岩岛海域派遣一艘海岸警卫队船只。

4月18日，中国最先进的渔政船——中国渔政310船从广州出发，开赴南海海域，开展常态化的渔政巡航执法管理。该船于19日进入中沙群岛海域，20日中午到达黄岩岛海域。

目前菲律宾搜救船“BRP-埃德萨”号和中国的一艘海监船在黄岩岛周边海域仍处于一对一的对峙状态。 菲总统阿基诺声称，菲律宾会继续在黄岩岛部署船只，因为“相信那是菲律宾水域”，而中方一直强调，黄岩岛是中国的固有领土，中国维护领土主权的立场是坚定明确的。