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| The Red Line Indicates The Area That China Claims as Part of Its Territory. As One Can See, This Claim Goes Beyond the Territorial Claim of the Philippines which it is Legally Entitled to under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea |
China’s territorial claims to the Spratly Islands, which are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves, run counter to those of the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
“The Philippine side has carried out massive construction on these islands and reefs for years, building military and civilian facilities such as airports, docks and barracks… [China] opposes the unlawful construction carried out by the Philippines on maritime features of China's Nansha [Spratly] Islands,” the statement reads. China’s Foreign Ministry urged the Philippines to stop its “malicious hyping and provocation” over the South China Sea dispute, immediately cease its relevant "illegal" construction activities, and withdraw all personnel and facilities from the islands and reefs.
China's complaints against the Philippines follow Manila's repeated accusations that the agreement had already been violated by China's construction work.
China’s territorial claims to the Spratly Islands, which are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves, run counter to those of the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. China has recently intensified construction works on the reefs it controls around the disputed Spratly Island archipelago in the South China Sea. Satellite images released in mid-February show that since last March, China has built an artificial island covering some 75,000 square yards on the reefs. In early March, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said construction on the reefs that China controls near the disputed islands is lawful and poses no threat to other countries.
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