Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, on Monday, called on China to stop 'harassing' Philippine vessels that are conducting regular rotation and resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, Manalo defended the Philippine government's policy of publicizing Chinese maneuvers in the WPS, including the recent passage of warships near Scarborough Shoal.

"It's merely trying to inform the people of what's going on," Manalo said. "And some countries or one country at least has some difficulty with that."

"But our simple explanation is if you would stop harassing us and, and perhaps performing other actions, there wouldn't be any news to report."

Manalo said the Philippines is “committed to a peaceful resolution of disputes through diplomatic means, or peaceful means” while insisting "this will not be done at the expense of our national interest."

“We are reaching out to partners in like-minded countries with similar issues and similar concerns,” he said.

Uphold cooperation over confrontation

Speaking before the Maritime Cooperation Forum on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, Manalo underscored the important role of the South China Sea for the countries in the Indo-Pacific Region.

“The South China Sea holds an even more promising future as a hub where blue economies could emerge, reminiscent of the pulsating maritime trade that historically connected the peoples of the region with each other and with nature,” he said.

However, he noted that such a future will only be possible if nations in the region “resolve to uphold cooperation over confrontation, and diplomacy, over the use or the threat of the use of force.”

“For the South China Sea and the seas and oceans of the Indo-Pacific to be unifying domains of peace, stability, and prosperity, we need to gather more strongly around a collective responsibility, as well as a shared sense of stewardship,” he stressed.

Over the past years, tensions have risen between China's coastguards and Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

China claims the vast South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, which is within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected Beijing’s historical claims in the West Philippine Sea and favored Manila’s sovereign rights in the area.

The arbitral ruling, according to Manalo, is “now part of international law.”

“The shared stewardship of the seas and oceans in the region behooves us to unite in preserving the primacy of international law so we can ensure equitable and sustainable outcomes for all,” he said.

“It also calls for us to stand firmly together in opposing actions that contradict or are inconsistent with international law,” he added.