Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that Beijing considers the Nansha Islands and surrounding waters part of Chinese territory.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their surrounding waters. The islands and reefs of China’s South China Sea islands, including those in the Nansha Islands, are outside the territorial scope of the Philippines," Guo said at a regular briefing.

The chart, released on September 25, identifies Zhongye and Mahuan as Pag-asa and Lawak and places them within the Philippines' Kalayaan Island Group.

The area is part of the disputed South China Sea, where China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian governments have overlapping claims.

Guo accused the Philippines of violating international law and said China would continue to defend its territorial and maritime claims.

"They are illegal and invalid. China firmly opposes any actions by the Philippines that undermine China’s sovereignty and rights and interests," he remarked.

Guo also addressed China's tensions with Japan , pointing to Taiwan as a major source of disagreement between Beijing and Tokyo.

"Not only did Japan's current leaders not reflect on the historical crime of aggression, but they claimed that Taiwan's affairs constituted an existential crisis for Japan, openly challenged China's national sovereignty, and turned their backs on the original intention of the normalisation of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations and Japan's political commitment to China," said Guo.

His comments followed Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting in Beijing on Monday with Takeshi Iwaya, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade . During the meeting, Wang criticised Japan's position on Taiwan.

"On today's important historical day, we once again urge the Japanese authorities to reflect on the past and return to the original intention and origin of the four political documents with practical actions," Guo said.

September 29 marks the anniversary of the 1972 China-Japan Joint Communique, which normalised diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo have remained high since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November 2025 that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and potentially trigger a military response. The remarks prompted strong protests from Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Friday rejected the Philippines' account of the incident and accused Manila of misrepresenting what happened.

"A spokesperson for the China Coast Guard has issued a statement setting out the true facts of the matter [...] The Philippines should immediately cease its infringements and provocations at sea, and stop spreading false narratives and distorting the facts," Guo said.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard, its government fisheries ship was about 54 nautical miles from Palawan and carrying out a refuelling mission when it collided with a China Coast Guard vessel.

China offered a different version of events. Beijing said its coast guard was conducting a patrol around Xianbin Reef, which is also known as Sabina Shoal, when the Philippine ship approached.

Chinese authorities claimed the vessel continued despite several warnings and was responsible for the collision.

The incident comes amid competing claims in the South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam , Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China claims much of the waterway. However, an international tribunal in 2016 rejected the legal basis for Beijing's claim to historic rights within its 'nine-dash line'. China does not recognise the ruling.

The maritime dispute was one of several foreign policy issues Guo addressed on Friday.

Asked about President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the United States for the UN General Assembly, Guo said Chinese and US officials remained in communication about a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump .

He also responded to reports that the European Union was considering measures targeting imports of Chinese hybrid vehicles.

Guo called on the EU to "honour its commitments to market openness and free trade."

"The essence of China-EU economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, not zero-sum competition where one side loses and the other wins. Adhering to openness and cooperation, and resolving economic and trade differences through equal dialogue and consultation, is in the common interests of both China and the EU," he stressed.

Guo also raised China's concerns about what he described as growing 'denialism' in Japan as September 18 marked 95 years since the Mukden Incident.

The incident involved Japan's Kwantung Army staging an explosion on a railway near Mukden, now Shenyang, before the invasion of Manchuria.