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The Philippines would continue to defend its territorial integrity, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) after Beijing warned it would “crush” any foreign incursion into what it claimed to be its territory in the South China Sea, the National Security Council (NSC) said on Thursday.
NSC assistant director Gen. and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya told the Inquirer the government’s position in the South China Sea was consistent with the national interest, international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea.
A report by the Agence France-Presse said Chinese Army Lt. Gen. He Lei told journalists that Beijing hopes the vital waterway would “remain a sea of peace.
