BEIJING (AP) — China has dispatched a ship to the disputed South China Sea, in an apparent effort to reinforce its claim to the waters.
China's Xinhua News Agency reported that patrol vessel Haixun 21, equipped with a helipad, departed the southern city of Haikou for the South China Sea on Thursday.
China believes most of the South China Sea is its own, overlapping with claims of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan in parts of the gas- and oil-rich region.
The Philippines said it objects to Chinese patrols of Philippine maritime territory.
Raul Hernandez, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said Friday that the Philippines has called on China to respect the Philippines' territorial sovereignty.
The Philippines had recently protested the new Chinese passport that bears a map of China that includes disputed seas. It has stopped processing visas for the holders of the new passport.
Vietnam has also complained about the map in the passport, which Chinese officials described as a “technical problem.”