Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop arrived in Beijing late on February 17, 2016, to a frosty reception in Beijing after being rapped over Australia's stance on the South China Sea ahead of a series of high-level meetings in the Chinese capital. She had made clear during her preceding trip to Tokyo that she intended to push her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for clarification on how China intended to use its man-made islands in the disputed waters. Beijing has repeatedly said it will not recognise the case filed by the Philippines at the Hague and defended its right to build on what it considers to be its sovereign territory. Stating that Australia took no sides on the competing territorial claims but awaited the outcome of the arbitration, Julie Bishop said "We recognise the Philippines' right to seek to resolve the matter through arbitration, but we urge all claimants to settle their disputes peacefully without coercion, without intimidation." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China would "never" accept the Philippines' "unilateral" initiation of international arbitration which it contends as a contravention of international law, adding that "Australia should not selectively evade that objective fact. Australia should adopt an objective and unbiased attitude and refrain from doing anything that undermines regional peace and stability."