MANILA - The Chinese embassy in Manila has downplayed a satellite analysis showing Chinese ships allegedly dumping untreated wastes in the South China Sea.

In a statement, the embassy's spokesperson claimed the report by US-based satellite image analysis firm Simularity was "fabricated" and driven by "anti-Chinese forces."

• READ: PH to reap consequences of Duterte 'abandonment’ of S. China Sea ruling: Del Rosario

Simularity's CEO Liz Derr earlier said that based on their calculations, 2,596 pounds or over a ton of human wastes are being dumped around the Spratly and Paracel Islands every day.

Philippine officials said they would investigate the incident.

"The Chinese embassy strongly condemns the said company’s act of fabricating facts, violating professional ethics, and maliciously spreading fake news against China," the embassy.

"For a long time, anti-China forces like this company have spared no efforts to produce lies and hype up the South China Sea issue to discredit and demonize China, create hatred and anti-China sentiments in the Philippines."

The Chinese embassy also described the report as a "lie".

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China maintains a constant presence of coastguard and fishing boats in the South China Sea, within which is the West Philippine Sea, to assert its claim of sovereignty, including hundreds in the Spratly islands, where the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia also have claims.

• More Chinese ships may be dumping wastes in Spratlys: satellite imagery expert

Derr said her firm has been monitoring the presence of these vessels and the overgrowth of algae where the ships are allegedly docked since 2020.

She added that human waste dumping is causing algal blooms that degrade and eventually kill the marine ecosystem in those areas.

The Chinese embassy said their government is "wiling to work with countries" most especially those in the coast of the South China Sea, including the Philippines.

A United Nations-backed court in 2016 junked Beijing's overwhelming claims in the resource-rich waters, but the Asian country continued to shun the ruling and instead ramped up militarization in the area.