Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Government of the Philippines in respect of Chinese actions in the Spratly Islands.

We regularly engage the Philippines Government on tensions in the South China Sea. Our Ambassador in Manila often raises the South China Sea with a range of stakeholders, most recently with the Acting Chief Justice, Antonio Carpio. In May the FCO Permanent Under-Secretary raised the matter with Enrique Manalo, the Philippines Under-Secretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs. We underscored the importance of the rule of law and freedom of navigation and overflight.

The UK does not take sides or support any sovereignty claim over another. Our commitment is to international law and freedom of navigation and overflight. The UK is opposed to militarisation of the South China Sea. We urge all parties to respect freedom of navigation and settle their disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.