The Philippines said on Wednesday it would refuse to stamp Chinese passports containing a map showing most of the China South Sea as belonging to China.
The new passports have provoked angry reactions from around the region, with Vietnam, Taiwan and India all expressing their objections amid an ongoing row over Beijing’s territorial claims.
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that immigration personnel would stamp “a separate visa application form” instead of the Chinese passport.
“Through this action, the Philippines reinforces its protest against China’s excessive claim over almost the entire South China Sea,” the department said.
Stamping the Chinese passport could be “misconstrued” as legitimising China’s claim over vast parts of the South China Sea, which are also claimed in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman also said on Wednesday the Philippines welcomed a recent US State Department statement that it planned to raise concerns over the new Chinese passports with China.