Beijing on Friday accused Manila of “making waves” by involving extra-regional powers in their long-running territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said “external countries”—a hint at the United States—were sowing discord in the contested waters by joining multilateral naval exercises with the Philippines, America’s oldest treaty ally in Asia.
“Such actions disrupt peace and stability in the South China Sea and undermine the interests and well-being of people in the region,” said Zhang.
Physical clashes between Chinese and Philippine law enforcement vessels have subsided in recent weeks, but political tensions remain high over islands, reefs as well as maritime zones claimed by both sides.
This week, first Manila and then Beijing announced domestic legislation that sought to solidify their respective legal claims to territories including Scarborough Shoal, the reef inside the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, forcefully occupied by China‘s forces since 2012.
Beijing claims a historic right to all the features in the South China Sea, dismissing in the process …