Defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday said Beijing's swarming activities in the West Philippine Sea are part of its move to convert the "South China Sea into a lake of China."

Teodoro, in a television interview, said China is trying to change unilaterally the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS and other international laws "by letting other countries submit by the unilateral claim of the whole of the South China Sea as its internal waters."

"Meaning to say, it's converting the SCS into a lake of China. And that is why it is using coast guard vessels which are huge and massive to enforce domestic and criminal Chinese law in the whole of the South China Sea," he said.

Teodoro said China's swarming tactics in the WPS must be part of its illegal narratives and moves "to unilaterally pound into submission other countries" to accept their "definition of what international law with respect to the law of the sea is."

Hence, Teodoro pressed the need for the country and international community to pressure China into behaving responsibly to dial down the tension in the WPS.

"What we should do is, really, to move them out. However, that is easier said than done. We can have several approaches to this. The first and foremost is to really show the world and to pressure China into behaving like a responsible citizen of the world in this area," he said. 

Teodoro described China's swarming in WPS as a "roguish behavior."

"There's no other way of putting it in Scarborough shoal actually— [it] proves one thing that their boogyman narrative that the Philippines will be a staging point for other countries against Taiwan is false because the real target is the WPS and the Philippine straits," he added. 

Teodoro sees the Philippines as a "more valuable target" than Taiwan. 

He added that "it's a question for the world to be worried about" because if the South China Sea is constricted by China, it would affect supply chains and international maritime order. 

Teodoro said the Philippines' existence as an archipelagic country under UNCLOS will be put in peril should it fail to secure its exclusive economic zone.

"Our integrity as a country is in peril, and our exclusive economic zone is the patrimony of the country for our future generation's sustainability. Our population is getting bigger and bigger, we need all the resources possible," he noted.

Teodoro said the Philippines should also continue its momentum of "proactive diplomacy" and engagements with other like-minded countries in the region and outside the region.

The defense chief also underscored the need to educate Filipinos that a request for bilateral negotiation without a framework or without accepted ground rules with China is a "weapon" by the other country "merely to delay us while they continue to swarm and effectively denies us our ability to dominate the area."

Teodoro said it is "theoretically possible" that China could take over Ayungin Shoal — which has been the target of Beijing's aggressive actions, such as the China Coast Guard's harassment, water cannoning, laser pointing, ramming and dangerous maneuvers against the Philippine vessels. 

"Theoretically, that is possible. We have plans in place, of course, for any contingencies. I do not want to go into the realm of speculation regarding that but what I would like to underscore really is the trust and the sincerity with China," he said.

China has been consistent in not recognizing the 2016 arbitral ruling under UNCLOS.