MANILA, Philippines - China on Wednesday accused a Philippine warship
of illegally entering Chinese waters and ordered it to immediately
leave the area, escalating a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
The Chinese embassy in Manila released a statement reasserting the
country's sovereign rights to the South China Sea, including the
disputed area that is much closer to Philippine landmass.
The statement "urged the Philippine side to stop immediately their illegal activities and leave this area".
The Philippine government had earlier Wednesday said two Chinese
surveillance vessels were blocking efforts by its biggest warship to
arrest Chinese fishermen on eight boats caught fishing illegally in its
waters.
The government said the standoff was occurring at Scarborough Shoal,
124 nautical miles from the western coast of the country's main island
of Luzon.
China insists it has sovereign rights to all of the South China Sea,
even waters close to the coast of other countries and hundreds of
kilometers from its own landmass.
The Philippines says it has sovereign rights over areas of the sea
within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, and that its
position is supported by international law.
China calls the shoal Huangyan Island, and the Chinese embassy statement insisted the area belonged solely to China.
"The Chinese Embassy hereby reiterates that Huangyan Island is an
integral part of the Chinese territory and the waters around it is the
traditional fishing area for the Chinese fishermen," the statement said.
"Ever since the ancient times, numerous documents on the Chinese
history have put down definitely in writing that Huangyan Island belongs
to Chinese territory."
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