China Sea claims a 'spaghetti bowl': DFAT

Australia doesn't have an anti-China position on the South China Sea territorial dispute, the foreign affairs department head warns.

No one expects the "spaghetti bowl" of competing claims in the South China Sea to be decisively resolved anytime soon, the foreign affairs department chief has told a Senate committee.

Peter Varghese said Australia didn't have an anti-China position, but one based on fundamental principles that concerned regional stability and economic security.

Sixty per cent of Australia's exports and 40 per cent of imports pass through the South China Sea.