China is seriously concerned over the incumbent Philippine government's ballyhooing over the South China Sea issue, whipping up contradictory feelings between the people of the two countries, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said Monday.
China has noticed a documentary about the South China Sea and related reports in the Philippines, Hua said in a press release.
The Philippine foreign ministry, presidential press office and press bureau jointly made a three-episode documentary film in the official Tagalog language, in which it accused China of infringing on Philippine territories and pillaging resources that belong to the Philippines.
Spokespersons of the Philippine foreign ministry, defense department and armed forces all said the film aimed to raise public awareness of the importance of territories in the South China Sea and to unite the whole country behind the government on resolving the disputes.
China expressed strong dissatisfaction over the documentary's unreasonable and unfounded accusations, ignoring facts and calling white black, Hua said.
"The Chinese side also expresses serious concern over the practice of the incumbent Philippine government in making a fanfare about the South China Sea issue and instigating contradictions between the Chinese and Filipino people," Hua said.
She said the Philippine side had attempted to win sympathy by creating a false "victim" image of itself by misleading statements and lies. History, she said, cannot be overwritten nor facts fabricated.
"It is the Philippines' expansionist policy and blatant infringement of China's sovereignty and interests that has given rise to these disputes," Hua said.
She pointed out that the islands in the South China Seas belong to China. She said China was the first to name and develop these islands, and the first to hold sovereign jurisdiction over the islands.
"This is proven by adequate historical and legal evidence," Hua said.
She said Japan occupied the islands during its aggression war against China. The Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, on which the post-war international order is founded, demanded Japan return the territories it stole from China. After World War II, the Chinese government took back the islands in the South China Sea.
"The root of the China-Philippines dispute on South China Sea lies in the illegal territorial claims the Philippine side made on part of China's Nansha Islands and its occupation of some of the islands," Hua said.
