China on Wednesday said it is planning to open a South China Sea museum to showcase its historic claim of sovereignty over the disputed region as the Philippines announced plans to declare a vast lagoon in the area as a marine sanctuary.
The national museum for the South China Sea is ready to open in March with a wide range of antiques collected from China and abroad, the museum’s preparatory office in China’s southern Hainan Province said.
The announcement came as Philippines officials said President Rodrigo Duterte planned to declare a marine sanctuary and no-fishing zone at a lagoon within Scarborough Shoal, which China terms as Huangyan Dao.
The reef was seized by China in 2012. Philippines officials said the plan to create the proposed sanctuary was “a unilateral action”.
The Philippines’ plan comes after Manila won an international arbitration ruling in July which had challenged China’s seizure of Scarborough Shoal.
The tribunal has struck down China’s expansive claims over the areas.
Reacting to the Philippines plans, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media briefing yesterday that China and the Philippines have reached an agreement on coming back to the track of dialogue for the settlement of the South China Sea issue.
“China’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over Huangyan Dao has not and will not change,” he said.
Besides the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.
The South China Sea dispute was toned down by Rodrigo’s recent visit to China during which he reset the ties with Beijing, putting the dispute on the back burner.