China urges Philippines to stop making trouble

BEIJING - China on Thursday urged the Philippines to stop making trouble over Huangyan Island and take actions to create conditions for talks about a code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.

"If the Philippines really care about the COC, they should take real actions to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC)," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing when asked about recent remarks by the Philippine foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario.

Rosario said the Philippines has discovered concrete blocks on the island and that China tried to expand territory ahead of the COC, placing the region's peace and stability in jeopardy.

"The Philippines should create the necessary conditions and environment for discussions over the COC, rather than making trouble out of nothing," Hong said.

The spokesman reaffirmed Huangyan Island as China's inherent territory and said the Philippines should respect China's territorial sovereignty.

Hong rejected the Philippine accusations on Wednesday that China has begun fortifying Huangyan Island, saying "what the Filipino said is not true."

China and ASEAN concluded the DOC in 2002 and have been pushing for efforts to start talks on a Code of Conduct.