By Qin Lizhi
The Philippine National Maritime Council (NMC) issued a statement on January 12, 2026, accusing China of escalating the tensions in the South China Sea by engaging in what it described as “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive activities” within what it called the “maritime zone.” In response, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines expressed China’s unequivocal rejection to NMC’s remarks in the same evening, which were misleading and disregarded the facts.
In fact, there is no such concept as “maritime zone”in the United Nations Convention on the…