China slammed the Philippines on Tuesday for being "hypocritical and inconsistent in word and deed" after reportedly preparing to renovate its military airport at an island in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines hypocritically claimed to have stopped construction on Zhongye Island while brazenly continuing to upgrade facilities such as an airport on the island, which the Philippines occupies illegally, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Lu's comment comes after media reports on Tuesday said that the Philippines seemed to resume its upgrade of a military airport on Zhongye Island in the South China Sea after the country twice claimed it had halted the airport upgrade in 2014 and 2015.
The Philippine air force has carried substantial amounts of materials including stones, sand and gasoline by planes to the island recently, an unnamed source was quoted as saying.
Lu added that it exposed the arbitration lodged by the Philippines as political provocation under the cloak of law, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Since the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally occupied some islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands by force, violating international laws including the UN Charter, and the basic norms of international relations. The Philippines engaged in construction work and arming on the islands and reefs it illegally occupied, according to Lu.
Lu urged the Philippines to respect China's territorial sovereignty and rights and interests, and abide by international laws including the UN Charter, the basic norms of international relations and the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).
In 2013, the Philippines unilaterally filed an arbitration case against China at the Hague tribunal, a move that China considers a violation of the DOC.
The Philippine military invited foreign journalists to Zhongye Island in May, which Beijing said that it shows the Philippines was the real rule-breaker, and that its attempt to seize maritime assets of China's Nansha Islands is futile.
