Philippines says China occupying disputed shoal

A Philippines top diplomat said China plans to occupy a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, stirring new tensions in the already tense waters, Reuters reported. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines discovered concrete blocks on the shoal that Chinese ships have occupied since April. He urged regional governments to speed up talks on a binding code of conduct (CoC) governing behavior at sea. In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman described the shoal – which lies about 125 nautical miles off the Philippines’ main island of Luzon – as China’s “inherent territory.”