The Aquino government has apparently made it settled doctrine to use “West Philippine Sea” to refer to the waters west of the country where the Philippines has overlapping territorial claims with five other nations, instead of the all-embracing tag of “South China Sea.”
Tellingly, Malacañang yesterday used “West Philippine Sea” for the first time in a statement reacting to China’s warning on Thursday, issued through Ambassador Liu Jianchao, to rival claimants to the disputed Spratlys island group to stop searching for oil in the contested region without permission from China. [ FULL STORY ]
