Manila: The Philippines will ask 10 other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to take a unified stance against China’s reclamation projects in the disputed South China Sea, a senior official said.

Beijing is carrying out activities on seven reefs and shoals, three of them within the area claimed by the Philippines as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“We should keep in mind that because of the reclamation activities [by China that began in 2014], what’s being violated is the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea [or DOCS that China and Asean signed in 2002],” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said, adding that Asean leaders will meet in Malaysia starting April 24.

He said the Philippines supports multilateral talks with China to settle the issue and make a 2002 document on conduct of claimants in the controversial sea-land more legally binding.

China’s reclamation projects are “a serious matter, a matter of grave concern for the country, other claimants [of the South China Sea], and the international community,” Jose said.

“It undermines peace and stability, causes tension, causes massive and irreparable damage to the marine life and ecosystem [in the South China Sea].”

China and Asean countries have been studying ways to make the DOC legally binding, but negotiations remain stalled as Beijing wants bilateral talks with individual claimant countries while the latter have called for multilateral negotiations.

The Philippine government will not agree to hold bilateral talks with China on overlapping claims because it will jeopardise the complaint it filed against China’s claim of the whole of South China Sea before a United Nations arbitration court in 2014, Jose said.

Noting the importance of the arbitration court’s favourable decision for the Philippines, Jose said, “It will put a lot of pressure on China … It’s to their interest to abide by the decision as a responsible member of the international community.”

It will also help the Philippines identify the extent of its continental shelf (350 nautical miles from the shore) and EEZ (200 nautical miles from the shore) in the South China Sea, Jose said, adding that a mathematical computation of a court-concluded markers of territories will nullify China’s entire claim of the South China Sea which has been called nine-dash line.

In reaction to Aquino’s plan, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was quoted as saying, “The issue of the South China Sea is not an issue between China and Asean. We oppose certain countries using the South China Sea issue to damage the friendly cooperative relationship between China and the countries of Asean.”

“We are willing to work together with the countries of Asean to earnestly implement the two-way-thinking solution of the South China Sea, jointly protect the peace and stability in the region of the South China Sea,” Hung added.

China, Vietnam, and Taiwan claim the whole of the South China Sea based on historical records. Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim parts of the Spratly Archipelago, based on the extent of their EEZ in the South China Sea as provided for by the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Four claimants are Asean member countries.