BEIJING: China reiterated on Monday its indisputable sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao (South China Sea islands), dismissing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s speech at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue concerning the South China Sea issue.
The Philippine president said in a keynote address at the dialogue on Friday in Singapore that the Philippines’ territorial claims are backed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the South China Sea “arbitral award” made in 2016, according to a transcript published by the Philippine Presidential Communications Office. In response, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an online statement that China, which was the first to have discovered, named, explored and utilized the South China Sea islands and relevant waters, has indisputable sovereignty over the islands and sovereign rights and jurisdiction over relevant waters.
The Philippine president’s remarks disregard history and facts and are designed to amplify Manila’s wrongful position on the South China Sea, the statement said. Philippine territory is defined by a series of international treaties that do not include China’s Nansha Islands and Huangyan Island, the statement said.
China opposes the Philippines’ occupying by force some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Islands, which seriously violates its sovereignty, sovereign rights and international law, the statement quoted the spokesperson as saying. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
