China accuses Philippine president of ‘hyping up’ maritime situation

ISTANBUL

China on Monday said the Philippine president’s comment that fatal harm to any Filipino citizen would be considered an act of war was “designed to hype up” the maritime situation.

“Those remarks disregard history and facts and are designed to amplify the Philippines’ wrongful position,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Speaking at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore during which he talked about the disputes in the South China Sea, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said: “If by a willful act a Filipino - not only serviceman but even Filipino citizen - is killed … that is what I think very, very close to what we define as an act of war and therefore we will respond accordingly."

In response, the Chinese ministry said that the comments were designed to “deliberately distort and hype up the maritime situation.”

Manila and Beijing have witnessed bilateral relations spiral down due to a longstanding dispute over territory in the South China Sea.

China has fired water cannons to stop Filipino vessels from reaching the disputed islets.

“China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea are based on solid historical and legal grounds,” said the ministry.

It added China’s normal patrol, law enforcement and “productive activities in waters under its own jurisdiction are consistent with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and such activities are beyond reproach.”

"In particular, driven by selfish geopolitical calculations, the US has played an extremely ignoble role by supporting and assisting the Philippines in infringing on China’s sovereignty, and by exploiting the South China Sea issue to drive a wedge between China and other regional countries," the ministry said.

The ministry said the arbitral award on the South China Sea is “illegal, null and void” and added the responsibility for the recent escalation in the South China Sea “lies fully with the Philippine side.”

Beijing claims vast maritime territory in the South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line, which The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration said in 2016 has no legal basis under international law.

China says the ruling is not valid and has been in negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations since 2002 for a code of conduct for the disputed sea.