2016年7月8日，莱索托主流英文媒体《公众眼报》全文刊登了孙祥华大使署名文章，全文如下：

　　On 8 July, 2016, the Public Eye of Lesotho published an article by Ambassador Sun Xianghua: “The South China Sea Disputes Call for Honest, Sensible and Responsible Way of Settlement”. The full text is as follows:

　　南海问题应以诚实、理性和负责任方式解决

　　The South China Sea Disputes Call for Honest, Sensible and Responsible Way of Settlement

　　6月初，我在莱索托权威报纸《公众眼报》发表了题为《南海问题：尊重法律和事实，反对阴谋与诡计》的文章，全面介绍南海争议经纬。然而，当我在该报7月1日版上读到《建立以规则为基础的南海机制》一文后，我决定再写一篇文章，揭穿“以规则为基础”一文的谬论与谎言，向莱索托人民讲清楚为什么我认为菲律宾政府没有采取诚实、理性和负责任的方式来解决南海争议。

　　In early June, I published the article “South China Sea: respect law and facts rather than tricks and plots” in the esteemed Basotho newspaper the Public Eye, which presented a holistic and realistic picture of the South China Sea disputes. However, after reading an article also about the South China Sea titled “Towards a rules-based regime in the South China Sea” published in the same newspaper on July 1, I decided I have to write another one, to expose and rebuke all the fallacies and fabrications in the “rules-based” article, and explain to the Basotho people why I think the government of the Philippines has not been following an honest, sensible and responsible way to solve the South China Sea disputes.

　　首先，菲律宾政府在其领土边界问题上对国际社会不诚实。稍作研究即可发现，1898年《美西巴黎条约》、1900年《美西华盛顿条约》、1930年《英美条约》均对菲边界作出规定，这些条约明确规定东经118度经线是菲领土的西部界限，而中国南海岛礁均位于这条经线的西侧。事实真相是，自1970年代初起，菲律宾受攫取南海油气资源的贪心驱使，开始越过这条国际条约规定的界限侵占中国岛礁。南海争议的根本原因就是菲律宾的非法领土扩张。“以规则为基础”一文号称呼吁“法治”，却选择性地遗忘了菲律宾才是真正的违法者。

　　Firstly, the Philippine government has not been honest to the world about the boundary of its territory. If we do some research, we would find that the Philippine territory is defined by the 1898 Treaty of Peace Between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, the 1900 Treaty Between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America for Cession of Outlying Islands of the Philippines, and the 1930 Convention Between the United States of America and Great Britain Delimiting the Boundary Between the Philippine Archipelago and the State of North Borneo. These treaties have manifestly stipulated that the 118 degrees east longitude is the western limit of the Philippine territory. China’s islands and reefs in the South China Sea are all located west of this line. The truth is, since the early 1970s, the Philippines started encroaching upon China’s islands and reefs across the limit defined by the international treaties, incented among others by its greed for the oil and gas resources in the South China Sea. The Philippines’ illegal territorial expansion is the root causes of the South China Sea disputes. When the “Rules-based” article called for rule of law, it seems to selectively forget that the Philippines was the real breaker of the rule of law.

　　第二，菲律宾政府提请仲裁不是解决争端的理性之举。《联合国海洋法公约》(以下简称《海洋法》)第280条规定，“本公约的任何规定均不损害任何缔约国于任何时候协议用自行选择的任何和平方法解决它们之间有关本公约的解释或适用的争端的权利。”第281条规定，“作为有关本公约的解释或适用的争端各方的缔约各国,如已协议用自行选择的和平方法来谋求解决争端,则只有在诉诸这种方法而仍未得到解决以及争端各方间的协议并不排除任何其他程序的情形下,才适用本部分所规定的程序”。第283条规定，“如果缔约国之间对本公约的解释或适用发生争端,争端各方应迅速就以谈判或其他和平方法解决争端一事交换意见”。概括起来，上述条款充分说明争端直接相关方应穷尽所有通过和平谈判与协商的解决方式。