Philippine Coast Guard Rejects China's Scarborough Shoal Historical Claim as 'Distortion of History'

The Philippine Coast Guard publicly denounced China's use of a 1990 diplomatic letter as purported evidence of a Philippine concession on Scarborough Shoal sovereignty, calling the claim 'misleading at best and a deliberate distortion of history at worst.' The PCG stated the letter merely acknowledged the shoal lies outside colonial-era boundaries but affirmed it falls within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS. Chinese authorities also cited a claim that a Filipino diplomat had previously acknowledged Scarborough Shoal was not Philippine territory — a statement Manila rejected categorically. Philippine DFA spokesman Rogelio Villanueva stated that 'maritime and territorial claims are subject to established international legal procedures, not through unilateral proclamations or social media posts.'