The Philippines said on March 16 that it rejected Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over the entire South China Sea and denied a claim by China’s embassy that a Filipino diplomat had conceded 36 years ago that the disputed Scarborough Shoal was not part of its territory.
Rogelio Villanueva, a spokesman for the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), told a briefing that the Philippines had “indivisible, incontrovertible and longstanding sovereignty” over Scarborough Shoal and several islands in the Spratly archipelago.
“China must be reminded that maritime and territorial claims are subject to established international legal procedures and dispute settlement mechanisms, not through unilateral proclamations or social media posts,” Villanueva said….
Philippines Rejects Chinese Claims to Sovereignty Over South China Sea
