File Photo: China Coast Guard drives away Philippine vessels intruding into waters of China's Nansha Islands

China once again urges the Philippines to take seriously China's concerns, stop making provocations and creating troubles at sea, and to stop groundless attacks and smears on the Ren'ai Jiao (also commonly known as Ren'ai Reef) issue, China's Foreign Ministry stated on Monday.

A spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Saturday that China's claim of "indisputable sovereignty" over the "West Philippine Sea" is disputable, adding that China's "unfounded" claim and its actions in the "West Philippine Sea" are irresponsible.

In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that recently the Philippines has taken a series of steps at Ren'ai Jiao that seriously violate China's territorial sovereignty, and China has made serious démarches to the Philippines on multiple occasions.

The ministry reiterated that Ren'ai Jiao has been China's territory since ancient times. It is an integral part of China's Nansha Islands geographically, economically, politically and historically. This has been established as a widely held international common view and fully accords with provisions on archipelagos in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The ministry said that Ren'ai Jiao has never been the Philippines' territory. The territory of the Philippines is defined by a series of international treaties, including the 1898 Treaty of Peace between the US and the Kingdom of Spain (the Treaty of Paris), the 1900 Treaty between the US and the Kingdom of Spain for Cession of Outlying Islands of the Philippines (the Treaty of Washington), and the 1930 Convention between the UK and the US regarding the Boundary between the State of North Borneo and the Philippine Archipelago.

The Nansha Islands, including Ren'ai Jiao, is completely beyond the limits of Philippine territory. The Philippines has no legal basis at all to claim sovereignty over Ren'ai Jiao on the grounds of its comparative proximity to Philippine territory.

Additionally, the so-called South China Sea arbitration award is illegal, null and void. The arbitration initiated by the Philippines directly concerns the issues of territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation. Territorial issues are not subject to UNCLOS.

Besides, in 2006, pursuant to Article 298 of UNCLOS, China excluded issues relating to sea boundary delimitations from the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal. By unilaterally initiating the South China Sea arbitration, the Philippines contravened the stipulations of UNCLOS. The Arbitral Tribunal violated the principle of state consent, exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of the law.

By "grounding" a military vessel at Ren'ai Jiao, the Philippines gravely violated China's territorial sovereignty. In May 1999, the Philippines "grounded" the tank landing ship BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57) at Ren'ai Jiao. The Chinese side immediately lodged serious démarches, asking the Philippines to tow away the vessel at once. The Philippines repeatedly promised to do so as soon as possible.

However, 24 years have passed, and the Philippine warship is still there. China cannot accept the Philippines' acts of going back on its word again and again and violating China's territorial sovereignty. The Philippines has the responsibility to tow away the "grounded" military vessel.

The ministry also stated that the responsibility for the current situation at sea completely lies with the Philippines. For some time, the Philippines, ignoring China's goodwill and sincerity, has kept sending official vessels and warships to forcibly intrude into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao in an attempt to send construction materials for repairing and reinforcing the "grounded" military vessel on a large scale in order to permanently occupy Ren'ai Jiao.

China once again urges the Philippines to take seriously China's concerns, stop making provocations and creating troubles at sea, and stop groundless attacks and smears, so as to avoid undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea and harming the common interests of countries in the region.

China will continue, in accordance with domestic law and international law, do what is necessary to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, the ministry said.