China reprimands the EU over the South China Sea

China says it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the EU’s “accusations” on the matter, says a statement sent out by China’s EU delegation in Brussels.

– The EU is not a party to the case about the South China Sea and has no right to make accusations in the case, the statement says.

The European Union said on Sunday it condemns the Chinese coast guard’s dangerous maneuver against legitimate Philippine naval operations in the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines are accusing each other after a Chinese coast guard vessel and a Philippine ship collided on Sunday at the disputed Sabina Reef inside the Philippines’ economic zone, 140 kilometers west of the island of Palawan and 1,200 kilometers south of China.

A photo released by the Philippine Coast Guard suggests that the Chinese boat deliberately drove into the Philippine one.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, well into the economic zone of the other countries surrounding the sea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

To put power behind its claims, China has built bases and facilities on islands, reefs and shoals, which in some cases are underwater at high tide, including on the Spratly Islands, which lie partly in the Philippine economic zone.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has rejected China’s claims in the South China Sea in a ruling, but China refuses to comply with the ruling.