Manila is real rule-breaker and trouble-maker

The Philippines has intensified its diplomatic and military game over its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

Accompanied by a group of journalists including foreign correspondents based in the Philippines, Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr, the country's military chief, paid a high-profile visit on Monday to China's Zhongye Island, which has been illegally occupied by Manila since the 1970s. China has condemned the pointless farce and urged the Philippines to stop its provocations regarding disputed areas in the South China Sea.

Although the Philippines is one of the first countries to lay claim to the Nansha Islands and carry out extensive construction work for expanding insular features on illegally occupied islands (for example, Zhongye Island), it has condemned China for doing the same, saying such activities will "cause damage to the ecological environment of the South China Sea".