China urges Philippines to stop misleading intl community on South China Sea issue

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday urged the Philippines to stop provocations and cease misleading the international community on the South China Sea issue.

The Ministry's comments came in response to the claim by Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Sunday that Manila will continue to exercise what he calls its freedoms and rights in accordance with international law and safeguard its national interests.

If the Philippines is indeed willing to act per international law, it should, first and foremost, comply with the stipulations of the provisions of the treaties that determine the territorial scope of the Philippines, including the 1898 Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, and abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, said Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Ministry, at a regular press briefing.

Despite China's opposition, the Philippines has attempted to resupply a warship grounded on Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao in the South China Sea since 1999, causing tensions between the two sides.

China has said that 25 years on, the Philippines has not fulfilled its promise to tow away the warship, and it has attempted to send construction materials for large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship to build permanent structures on Ren'ai Jiao.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on June 3 that the Philippine territory is defined by a series of international treaties, including the 1898 treaty, the 1900 Treaty between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain for Cession of Outlying Islands of the Philippines, and the 1930 Convention between His Majesty in Respect of the United Kingdom and the President of the United States regarding the Boundary between the State of North Borneo and the Philippine Archipelago.

China's Nansha Qundao and Huangyan Dao are beyond the limits of the Philippine territory established by the above-mentioned treaties, it said.