China's "nine-dash line" used to claim most of the South China Sea is a fabrication, the Philippines’ defense secretary said, as he accused Beijing of illegally occupying Filipino maritime territory.
The remarks late Sunday come amid a fresh row between Manila and Beijing over the disputed Scarborough shoal, which has long been a flashpoint between the two countries.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana last week lodged a diplomatic protest over what he said was the "illegal confiscation" by China's coast guard of fishing equipment near the shoal.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Monday said the government would not give up a single inch of the country’s territory, including its claims in the disputed portions of the South China Sea.
He made the statement after China accused the Philippines of illegal provocations in the disputed waters, saying the Philippines had infringed on its sovereignty and security.
He assured the public that the Philippines would not give up the West Philippine Sea.
Lorenzana has said the provocations in the hotly disputed areas in the South China Sea are coming from the Chinese, who have illegally occupied some features within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
He was responding to China's claims that the Philippines was doing "illegal provocations" by sending a patrol aircraft over the Spratlys and reefs occupied by Chinese forces.
"Illegal provocations? That area is within our EEZ. Their so-called historical rights over an area enclosed by their nine-line doesn’t exist except in their imaginations," he told reporters on Sunday.
China seized Scarborough from the Philippines in 2012 following a tense standoff. Vito Barcelo with AFP
The shoal, one of the region's richest fishing grounds, is located 240 kilometers west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and 650 kilometers from the nearest major Chinese land mass, the southern island province of Hainan.
"That area is within our EEZ," Lorenzana told reporters in a text message, referring to the country's exclusive economic zone.
"Our fishermen are within our EEZ and likewise our ships and planes conduct patrol sorties within our area.
"They [China] are the ones who have been doing provocations by illegally occupying some features within our EEZ. Hence they have no right to claim they are enforcing their laws."
Beijing claims the majority of the sea, often invoking its so-called nine-dash line to justify its alleged historic rights to the key waterway that is also contested by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei.
It rejected a 2016 UN-backed tribunal's ruling that its claims were without legal basis.
China's foreign ministry on Friday defended the coast guard, saying they had carried out law enforcement activities and "their actions are understandable".
It also accused Philippine military aircraft of invading Chinese airspace in another disputed section of the sea and urged Manila to "immediately stop illegal provocative activities".
Roque has played down the spat that comes as the coronavirus-ravaged country seeks to secure a coronavirus vaccine from China.
"Our diplomats routinely lodge protests like that if we believe our sovereign rights are violated," Harry Roque said Friday.
"But it will not affect the overall good relations between our country and China.
Philippine-China relations have improved under Duterte, who revived once-icy diplomatic ties after being elected in 2016 when he largely set aside maritime disputes in favor of wooing Chinese aid, trade and investment.