A Chinese Navy warship is seen in the South China Sea on October 4, 2023. Photo: VCG

The US Embassy in the Philippines has baselessly attacked and criticized China's legitimate and lawful law enforcement actions at Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Islands, which displays a sinister attempt from the US to endorse and support the provocative actions by the Philippines, against which China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition.

Regardless of the facts, the US Embassy in the Philippines issued a statement recently that goes against the spirit of the international laws, including the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said in a statement on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the US will "defend" the Philippines in case of any "attack" in the South China Sea, media reported.

China's Foreign Ministry and Ministry of National Defense on Thursday successively criticized US' interference in South China Sea issues, urging it to stop inciting or fanning flames, and also saying that the US' "commitment" to the Philippines must not harm China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, nor should it support the Philippines' illegal claims.

Ren'ai Jiao, also known as Ren'ai Reef, is part of China's Nansha Islands which has always been Chinese territory, the spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, the current escalation of tensions in the South China Sea is closely related to the provocative actions by the US. Throughout this year, the US has been blatantly emboldening the Philippines' acts of infringing upon China's sovereignty. It has incited and supported the Philippines in the repair and reinforcement of the warship deliberately "grounded" on the Ren'ai Reef and even deployed military aircraft and vessels to support the Philippines. On several occasions, the US has used the pretext of fulfilling the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty to threaten China.

What the US has done has seriously violated international laws and the basic norms governing international relations, severely undermined China's sovereignty and rights and interests, and seriously jeopardized regional peace and stability, the spokesperson noted.

The issue of the Ren'ai Reef is a bilateral issue between China and the Philippines and China has all along been committed to properly managing differences through dialogue and consultation with the direct parties so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the South China Sea, the spokesperson said.

In seeking selfish geopolitical interests, the US has incited troubles and magnified differences in the South China Sea, which countries in the region can see through clearly. The US has left a trail of messes by irresponsibly causing turmoil around the world, and now seeks to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region. Such scheme is doomed to fail, the spokesperson added.

Global Times