MANILA — Beijing alone believes its claim that Manila is stoking tension in the West Philippine Sea, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Wednesday.

China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said the Philippines had “entirely caused” recent incidents between vessels from the two nations in the waterway.

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“My response to that is that only China believes in what they are saying. In truth and in fact, no country in the world—none—supports unequivocally their claim to the whole of the South China Sea,” Teodoro told reporters.

He added that many countries supported the Philippines’ rights over its exclusive economic zone and “other areas where we have territorial jurisdiction.”

“No country in the world, to this time, has condemned the Philippines in what it’s doing. That is the best proof to what I said,” Teodoro said at the sidelines of the ceremonial turnover of a Japanese-made air surveillance radar system to the Philippine Air Force in San Fernando City, La Union.

In his speech during the ceremony, Assistant Commissioner of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics of the Japan Ministry of Defense Osamu Nishiwaki noted China’s aggressive actions against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

“Japan knows that there are frequent reports of obstructive actions to the Philippine ships by the Chinese ships, including the China Coast Guard. Japan reiterates serious concern over such actions which increase regional tensions,” Nishiwaki said.

“Japan also opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, as well as any actions that increase tensions in the South China Sea,” he added.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis, a ruling the United States supports but Beijing rejects.

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Manila and Beijing recently traded accusations over a ship collision near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea which saw tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.

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