Manila: The Philippines will inform nine other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that China’s reclamation project has enlarged submerged shoals in the South China Sea in order to make them fortified markers of its “nine-dash-nine” demarcation that claims the entire sea lane, sources said.

“We will talk about the massive reclamation that we are seeing and threats it presents in terms of freedom of navigations in the South China Sea,” said Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, adding one of the Philippines three-pronged strategy to solve its maritime problem is consultation with international partners.

ASEAN senior official ministers are participating in a two-month long meeting of representatives of member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Clark, central Luzon from January to February. The Philippines will host the APEC meeting by end of 2015.

“We are (also) taking a position in terms of registering the necessary protest in the face of blatant violations of the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea that China and ASEAN signed in Phnom Penh in 2002,” said del Rosario, referring to a document that calls for respecting international law, upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea, and work for freedom of navigation and overflight in the area.

China’s reclamation activities also violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said del Rosario, adding China has encroached on the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines, based on UNCLOS provision of EEZ starting from a country’s shore.

“China is fortifying its reclamation project with physical structures and intention to establish permanent presence in those areas,” security expert Rommel Banlaoi explained in a TV interview.

“How can we ask China to remove all these reclaimed structures. It cannot be done even if the United Nations renders decision in favour of the Philippines,” said Banlaoi.

He referred to the Philippines’ complaint against China’s entire claim of the South China Sea, following China’s tale over of several shoals and reef in the West Philippine Sea, following a standoff between China and Philippines ships near a reef located off northern Luzon in 2012.

“Who will compel China to follow the decision of the court whose legal process China has rejected from the start (when the Philippines filed its complaint before the United Nations’ arbitration court in early 2014)?” asked Banlaoi.

The Philippine government has counted seven reclamation maritime projects undertaken by China.

In early December last year, IHS Jane’s, a British publishing firm, said China has been reclaiming land for Fiery Cross for 18 months to create a new 3,000-metre long and 300-metre wide territory with an airstrip and an eastern harbour that could “receive tankers and major surface combatants”.

China has also undertaken similar land mass enhancement projects at Johnson South Reef, Cuateron Reef, and Gaven Reefs, said IHS. It did not enumerate three more projects to mirro the projects counted by the Philippine government.

Following IHS report, US military spokesman Lt. Col. Jeffery Pool was quoted as saying, “We urge China to stop its land reclamation programme and engage in diplomatic initiatives to encourage all sides (claimants, to restrain themselves in these sorts of activities.”

At the time, Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan of China was also quoted as saying that Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have been doing the same thing (like China’s reclamation projects”.

China has gained control of the Paracels Group off the South China Sea in 1974. It has developed an airstrip in Paracels Woody Island. Then it moved southward and claimed parts of the Spratly Archipelago in the mid 80s, where it has also claimed seven submerged reefs and shoals.

China has been doing reclamation projects on these reefs, within areas claimed by China in the Spratly Archipelago, other Chinese officials also argued.

Early this week, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel said China and ASEAN must work together to lessen tension due to the overlapping claims in the South China Sea, adding the US and all other countries in the world want to remain as neutral referees who aim to end tension in the region’s possible flashpoint.

China and ASEAN are in the process of making the 2002 DOC more legally binding.

China, Vietnam, and Taiwan claim the whole of the South China Sea based on their respective historical rights in the area. Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim some parts of the Spratly Archipelago off the South China Sea, based on the provision of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that grants 200 nautical miles exclusive zone to countries starting from their shores.

ASEAN is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.