Philippines backs U.S. plan to sail ship near Chinese island

The Philippines on Tuesday welcomed Washington’s plan to send ships near China’s man-made but disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), noting that it is within the concept of worldwide law.

“Failure to challenge false claims of sovereignty would undermine this order and lead China to the false conclusion that its claims are accepted as a fait accompli (something that has been done and can not be changed)”, the DFA statement said.

“We do operate with the Australians in certain areas of the South China Sea”, the official said. A report published by the Boston Globe said Beijing had issued a formal protest over a recent incident when a Chinese Navy dispatcher “demanded eight times that a US Navy P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft leave the area as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where China has conducted extensive reclamation work”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed serious concern last week over the planned US Navy deployment. Following quite a while of civil argument in the United States government, there is now an agreement that the U.S. Naval force ought to send boats or flying machine inside of 12 nautical miles of the counterfeit islands to test China’s regional cases there, as per individuals acquainted with inward examinations.

According to the DFA chief, China has reclaimed 500 to 2,000 acres in the last 18 months.

Xi was defiant in his defense of China’s activities in the South China Sea, which include using a fleet of dredging ships to build a string of artificial islands atop various reefs in the region.

Mira Rapp Hooper, a senior fellow at the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said she expected the patrols to be carried out at islands occupied by other claimants, such as Vietnam.

The decision contests Chinese territorial claims to the artificial islands, where China has reportedly begun construction of its first runway.