[Jimbuna]

Further to the above...

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has never promised China it would remove a grounded warship serving as a military outpost in the South China Sea, a senior security official said on Wednesday, deriding the claim by Beijing as a "figment of its imagination".

The Philippines maintains a handful of troops aboard the World War Two-era Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal, known by Manila as Ayungin shoal, which is located inside its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

China on Monday accused the Philippines of reneging on a promise made "explicitly" to remove the ship, which Manila grounded in 1999 to bolster its territorial claims in one of the world's most contested areas.

"The Philippine government will never enter into an agreement where we will abandon our sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Ayungin shoal," Jonathan Malaya, National Security Council assistant director general, told a press conference.

"For all intents and purposes, it is a figment of their imagination," Malaya said, challenging China to produce evidence of the promise.

China's embassy in Manila said it had no comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...247c7588&ei=14