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The Philippines has pushed back on Chinese claims that both countries have reached an agreement over an ongoing maritime dispute in the South China Sea, calling the claim propaganda.

What happened:
On April 18, a spokesperson from China’s embassy in Manila announced that both nations had agreed on a “new model” for managing tensions at the Second Thomas Shoal earlier this year. However, details of the supposed agreement were not provided.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro responded that his department had not been aware of or involved in any such agreement with China since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration began in 2022. He added that it was “part of the Chinese propaganda.”

Some background:
The South China Sea has been a hotbed of tension, with incidents of Chinese vessels using blocking maneuvers and water cannons against Philippine ships. These confrontations occur around areas like the submerged Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines claims within its exclusive economic zone, a claim that China disputes. In 1999, the Philippines anchored a naval ship at the shoal to strengthen its claim, a ship that remains manned by Filipino soldiers to this day.

This comes as China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a crucial maritime route for over $3 trillion in trade annually. Despite a 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in The Hague, which found no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims, Beijing continues to reject this decision.