CHINA has reclaimed around 3,000 hectares of land in seven features in the South China Sea, Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
In a press conference, Trinidad said among the seven features reclaimed by China are the Panganiban (Mischief) and Johnson (Mabini) Reefs, which are within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Subi (Zamora) Reef where they constructed military facilities.
“These are functional military bases. They have already militarized the South China Sea, from the early 1990s when they started putting up fishermen shelters and then it was mentioned by the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party that these are now for marine scientific research,” he said.
Trinidad maintained that these activities of China are illegal.
“This has been debunked already by the Arbitral Ruling that all of the features that have been established by the Chinese Communist Party in the South China Sea do not generate any maritime entitlements. It also debunked the nine-dash line,” he added.
China refused to recognize a 2016 arbitral ruling invalidating its claims within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash line, which is over 90 percent of the WPS.
It has been insisting on sovereignty in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), releasing in August 2023 an updated “official standard map” of its geographical territories which now includes a ten-dash line.
Trinidad said they are continuously monitoring the activities of China in the WPS.
From July 30 to August 5, the Philippine Navy monitored a total of 122 Chinese vessels in the WPS, higher that the 104 vessels seen in the area during the week prior.
This includes China’s monster ship and survey vessel, which are loitering in the vicinity of Sabina Shoal where Philippine authorities monitored an “unusual” pile up of crashed corals.
Trinidad said Chinese authorities refused to respond to the challenges of the Philippine troops who reminded them that they were within Philippine territory.
He said all these activities of China within the Philippine EEZ are being reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs for appropriate action. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)