Palace: Philippines can persuade China to act responsibly

MANILA, Philippines — Amid new reports of China's expanded activities in the disputed South China Sea, Malacañang believes that the Philippines can convince the Asian giant to become a "responsible" country.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said this after the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported over the weekend that China is planning to build an artificial island on the contested Fiery Cross Reef known as Kagitingan in the Philippines.

Lacierda's remarks also came after some nations expressed their support to the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China's excessive territorial claims before a United Nations tribunal.

"People seem to underestimate the fact or the power of the diplomatic track but there has been a growing approval from the international community. We believe that with the international community support, we can persuade China to act as a responsible member of the international community," Lacierda told reporters at a televised press briefing on Monday.

The Palace official, however, refused to comment on the SCMP report, saying it still needs verification. He added that the report on China's plan to establish an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea "is purely speculative at this point."

Read: China's plan to build artificial island submitted to gov't - report

Lacierda assured that unlike China, the Philippines will not raise tensions in the contested waters as it will continue to use legal mechanisms to resolve the territorial disputes.

"We will continue to resort to the diplomatic track that we have resorted to and that particular track has been gaining approval from the international community. Certainly, we do not want to escalate any tensions in the South China Sea," Lacierda said.

Last week, the tribunal in the Permanent Court of Arbitration handling the case filed by the Philippines has ordered China to submit its counter-argument by December 15.

Read: Court tells China: Respond to Phl case in sea row by Dec 15

China only reiterated that it will not join the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Philippines.

The US State Department hoped that China would avail itself of the opportunity to clarify before the arbitral tribunal the legal basis for its maritime claims.

Britain and Canada were among the countries that recently supported the decision of the Philippines to seek international arbitration.

Read: US urges China to participate in sea row arbitration | Canada, Britain back arbitration