The country’s defense posture in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) remains strong and intact despite China’s continued use of “grey zone” tactics, a ranking Philippine Navy official has asserted.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Navy spokesperson for the WPS, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, stressed the country’s armed forces remain determined to defend “our sovereign rights in our territorial waters,” particularly in the key occupied features in the WPS.

“We have always been there, our posture has not weakened, that is the stand of our government through the different instrumentalities in the maritime domain, including the Philippine Navy,” Trinidad said in Filipino.

Trinidad highlighted the regular patrols and maritime missions conducted by the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines — the military unit with jurisdiction over the WPS.

The navy official’s remarks came following the reported aggression of a China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessel against the Philippine Coast Guard last week.

The National Security Council (NSC) earlier noted it was the “first time” a Chinese warship was involved in a confrontation with Philippine vessels as close as 300 yards away at Scarborough Shoal in the WPS.

The NSC also expressed concern over the ongoing incidents in the WPS, calling them a “provocation” that is exacerbating regional tensions.

Trinidad described China’s use of warships in the WPS as a “grey zone strategy.”

The navy official downplayed the need to react to China’s “illegal, coercive and deceptive actions” in the WPS.

He said the AFP will continue to perform its mandate to defend and protect the country’s territory, insisting that China is not in control of the WPS.

Trinidad also said the military will continue to “utilize other means available to safeguard” the country’s territorial integrity. “As they said, the different instruments of national power, including diplomacy, political, informational, military, economic.”

“So these must all be felt — the instruments of national power, a whole-of-government and even a whole-of-society approach, even our countrymen can contribute to it,” he said.

China claims nearly 80 percent of the South China Sea, which overlaps with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. In July 2016, the International Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines, rejecting China’s nine-dash line claim that encompassed almost the entire South China Sea.