China's UN Mission Accuses Philippines of 'Flagrantly Infringing' Sovereignty Over Seabed Claim

China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations issued a rebuttal on July 31, 2026, two days after the Philippines presented its extended continental shelf claim off West Palawan to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Beijing accused Manila of "flagrantly infringing" on Chinese sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, and urged the 21-member commission not to consider the submission under its rules of procedure. China also accused the Philippines of using the filing "as a pretext to hype up" the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award. Separately, the Ministry of Natural Resources' China Institute for Marine Affairs released a report arguing Manila's claims to Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Dao) and Spratly features are "post-1970s inventions" the Philippines is estopped from asserting under international law.