China and the Philippines do not and will not have a dispute over Benham Rise, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, referring to a vast area the United Nations has declared to be part of the Philippines' continental shelf. Earlier this month, the Philippines’ Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he believed China had conducted survey missions deep into the Southeast Asian nation’s 370kilometer exclusive economic zone in Benham Rise, which sits off the Philippines’ east coast. China has already dismissed those concerns, saying its ships were simply passing through the waters there.

No dispute with Manila over Benham Rise-Beijing. (2017, March 24). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A13.