China says PH started construction war

China lambasted the Philippines for double standard Monday, saying it is “unjustifiable” for Manila to call for a moratorium on a construction war which it started in the first place.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the Philippines “illegally seized” islands in the West Philippine Sea and even planned a “world class airport” on Pag-asa Island.

“The Philippine side, on the one hand, intentionally takes provocative actions while on the other hand makes irresponsible remarks on legitimate actions which are within China’s sovereignty,” Hua said.

She was responding to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario’s calls for a moratorium on construction activities which he said tend to raise tensions in disputed Asian waters.

Chinese state media has earlier reported that Beijing is planning to build a school on the Paracel islands. Manila also recently accused China of reclaiming land near Mabini Reef, possibly for an airstrip project.

Hua however stressed that “China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters.” Nansha is how Beijing calls the resource-rich Spratly Group of Islands.

“We demand the Philippines to withdraw all its facilities and personnel on islands illegally seized from China,” the high-ranking Chinese official said in press briefing.

“Since the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally and forcefully occupied parts of China’s Nansha Islands including the Zhongye Island, in violation of the UN Charter and principles of international law,” she said.

Manila calls Zhongye the Pag-asa Island and last year bared plans to build an airstrip and naval facilities in the area. The government has insisted that such plans are part of the Philippines’ exercise of its sovereignty.

But Hua said the Philippine side’s actions, coupled with its statements, are “unjustifiable.” She also admonished Manila to “stop provocations that would further aggravate and complicate the situation.”

The word war over construction activities in the West Philippine Sea is the most recent escalation in the protracted territorial dispute, which Manila has brought before an international tribunal.

Beijing however continues to dodge arbitration by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea despite a growing call from neighboring Asian countries and other parties.

Aside from the Philippines and China, several other Asian countries are also staking claims on the Spratly Islands. Recently, China and Vietnam ships faced off near the Paracels where Beijing deployed an oil rig.