The Chinese Embassy on Saturday (March 23) justified its recent attack on a civilian Filipino vessel that was cruising in an area within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines in the Ayungin Shoal.

“These are our regulatory actions which have taken against Philippine vessels that illegally entered the waters adjacent to Ren’ai Jiaof of China’s Nansha Qundao,” said the embassy in a statement.

China’s claim of nearly the whole South China sea had already been rejected by an arbitral tribunal as it ruled in favor of the Philippines in a territorial case brought before its attention.

The tribunal assailed the legality of the nine-dash line that China used in supporting its claims as it upheld the Philippines position on the EEZ is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Beijing, like the Philippines, ratified the UNCLOS.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard accused the Chinese Coast Guard of blocking and bombarding with water cannon the Philippine resupply ship in the Ayungin Shoal the other day.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs reiterated that Philippines has never interfered in the China-Taiwan dispute but clarified that the interest of the thousand of Filipinos currently in Taiwan remain a concern of the PHilippine government.

The DFA statement was a response to China’s warning that Philippines is threading the danger zone if it will implicate its issue with Taiwan in the on-going maritime dispute at South China Sea.

“The issue of Taiwan is an internal matter to China,” DFA Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said.

“By virtue of geographic proximity and the presence of Filipinos on the island, however, the Philippines has legitimate interests in cross-Strait issues,” Daza added.

According to Daza the Philippines has continuously appealed to the concerned parties to observe maximum restraint.