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January 14, 2026 | 12:37pm
MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Leila de Lima (ML Party-list) rejected the repeated claims of the Chinese Embassy in Manila that the Philippines had instigated the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea, calling it a case of “selective amnesia.”
In a statement on Tuesday night, November 13, the minority lawmaker said China’s claim of overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZ) rests entirely on its nine-dash line assertion in the South China Sea.
“Regardless of the distinction between a territorial sea and an EEZ, it does not really matter because China itself is guilty of the most absurd disregard for legal distinctions when it claims the whole of the South China Sea as its territorial waters,” De Lima said.
She pointed out that China is roughly 900 to 1000 kilometers from the Philippines, leaving around a 300-kilometer “buffer zone” between the exclusive economic zones of both countries.
China, however, continues to assert that it has territorial control over the entire South China Sea, of which the West Philippine Sea is just a small part.
Without the nine-dash line claim, she said China’s claims of “blurred distinctions” in the long-disputed territorial waters would just fall apart.
In 2016, a tribunal in The Hague upheld that China’s nine-dash line has no legal basis and has violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights over areas within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, which include the many reefs, shoals and islands in the West Philippine Sea.
De Lima made these counterarguments after the Chinese Embassy in Manila rejected the National Maritime Council’s statement reaffirming Beijing’s “persistent illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive activities” in the West Philippine Sea.
China's claims
According to the statement, the embassy’s deputy spokesperson claimed the Philippines had conducted incursions and economic activities in waters China considers exclusively its own, specifically at Huangyan Dao and Xianbin Jiao.
These are known in the Philippines as Scarborough (Bajo de Masinloc) and Escoda Shoals (Sabina Shoal), which China used to argue that Manila had “provoked tensions” by deploying Coast Guard vessels to allegedly intrude into its territorial waters.
However, Scarborough Shoal and Escoda Shoal lie within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and are part of the West Philippine Sea.
"It has always been the Philippines that has time and again provoked trouble in an attempt to change the status quo," the embassy's statement read, claiming China is only acting in defense to "safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests."
Is China 'friendly'?
While disputes over features like the Spratly Islands involve Vietnam and Malaysia as well, China’s harassment of Philippine vessels has consistently been reported by the media, demonstrating its attempts to prevent Manila from freely exploring the resource-rich areas that fall within its exclusive economic zone.
“Of course China conveniently skipped its own history of aggression in the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal in its litany of so-called provocative actions of the Philippines,” De Lima said
She also pointed out that China has seven military outposts in the Spratly Islands — the largest among other claimant countries.
“It also failed to mention its own aggressive actions against Philippine fisherfolk and PCG personnel when it purportedly defends an imaginary Chinese coast 1,000 kilometers away from China,” she added.
China has already made plans to designate Scarborough Shoal as a 3,253-hectare national nature reserve, a move seen as an attempt to assert greater control over the area.
Since last year, Chinese Coast Guard and Navy vessels have increased their presence in the waters surrounding the shoal, which the Philippine Coast Guard has since protested against.
In September 2025, the Department of Foreign Affairs also filed a diplomatic protest opposing China’s nature reserve plan, saying that the Scarborough Shoal is an integral part of the Philippines, under its sovereignty and jurisdiction.
If these claims continue despite evidence of Chinese coercion in the West Philippine Sea, De Lima said it stresses a broader challenge for the Philippines in responding to a global superpower that may seek to reinforce its regional dominance in ways seen in other geopolitical disputes.
“They are not asking us to be their friends. They are asking the Philippines to be their vassal. That is what the intimidation, aggression, and violence in the WPS is all about,” she said.
