BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' territorial expansion attempts undermine the international legal system and pose a threat to regional peace and stability as well as the post-WWII order arrangement, said a report released on Wednesday.
The report, titled "Historical and Legal Critique of the Philippines' Territorial Claims in the South China Sea," was released by the China Institute for Marine Affairs under the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The report noted that the arguments the Philippines uses to support its claims over China's Huangyan Dao and certain maritime features of China's Nansha Qundao are replete with misinterpretations and distortions of historical sources, and scarcely demonstrate any probative value at the legal level.
These arguments serve merely as pretexts for the country to illegally expand its territory beyond the limits set by international treaties, said the report.
Historically, the territorial limits of the Philippines were formed during the Spanish and American colonial periods and were established through three international treaties. Following its independence, the country inherited and confirmed these boundaries through its Constitution and domestic laws.
Since the 1970s, the Philippines has repeatedly demonstrated expansionist intentions, using constitutional amendments, decrees and statements to assert sovereignty over certain maritime features of the Nansha Qundao and Huangyan Dao, according to the report.
Such claims are devoid of historical and legal foundation, it said. Enditem
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