AFP: China's 'indisputable' claim over Spratlys is 'disputable'

"Disputable."

That's the response of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to China after the latter claimed "indisputable sovereignty" over Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). 

“The use of the word ‘indisputable’ is disputable,” AFP spokesman Colonel Medel Aguilar said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement comes after Beijing recently condemned a mission by four Philippine ships to resupply Filipino troops in Ayungin Shoal which is part of the Spratly Islands or Ren'ai Reef to China. 

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, including the Ren'ai Reef, and its adjacent waters, and firmly opposes the illegal delivery of construction materials by the Philippines to the illegally grounded warship," said China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu.

Aguilar, however, refuted China's use of the word "indisputable."

“For one, the UNCLOS says no to its claim. Second, the arbitral award invalidated it. Third is several countries have expressed their support to the Philippines and to the rules-based international order, while no one has openly supported China in its actions at the WPS,” Aguilar added.  

Aguilar said China’s “unfounded” claim and its “offensive and irresponsible” actions in the WPS leads to the country’s global isolation.

GMA News Online has contacted China Embassy to get a statement but has yet to receive a reply.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has said it has successfully sent supplies to its troops stationed at BRP Sierra Madre, a World War Two-era transport ship-turned-military outpost on the atoll, despite attempts by the China Coast Guard to block it.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, pointing to a line on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016, however, ruled that the line on China's maps had no legal basis.

China has refused to recognize the decision. —VAL/KG, GMA Integrated News