Philippines Denies Agreement with China on South China Sea Dispute
The Philippines has denied a claim by China that the two countries had reached an agreement over their escalating maritime dispute in the South China Sea. The Philippine government called the claim "propaganda."
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Manila said on April 18 that the two countries had agreed earlier this year to a "new model" for managing tensions at the Second Thomas Shoal. However, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on Saturday that his department was not aware of any such agreement.
Teodoro said that the Philippine Defense Department has not spoken to any Chinese officials since last year. He added that the Philippines would never enter into any agreement that would compromise its claims in the South China Sea.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its claims overlap with those of the Philippines and four other nations. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China's claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing rejects.
Teodoro called China's claims of a bilateral agreement "part of the Chinese propaganda." He added that the Philippines would never enter into any agreement that would compromise its claims in the waterway.
"The narrative that unnamed or unidentified Chinese officials are propagating is another crude attempt to advance a falsehood," he said.