China did not directly respond to allegations in a study that concluded that Chinese activities in the South China Sea have damaged at least 21,000 acres of reef in the area.

Instead, China said that it just always attached "great importance to the protection of ecological environment of the Nansha Islands and reefs and their adjacent waters" as well as "carried out environmental protection and monitoring work in accordance with domestic and international laws."

China's comment came after a study conducted by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) discovered that its dredging and landfill activities and giant clam harvesting in the South China Sea have left a drastic damage in its marine environment.

The dredging and landfill activities damaged 4,500 acres of reef, while the clam harvesting affected 16,000 acres, making China the top contributor to the damage in the area.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy in Manila claimed CSIS' study only "concocted" a false report as it only cited "a few satellite images," supposedly "stirring up falsified allegations from years ago."

"Such a report is neither factual nor verifiable," the embassy said.

"Why are they so obsessed with harping on the same string? Though probably at their wit’s end, they still have ulterior motives," it added.

George Poling, one of the researchers of the study, on Thursday, Feb. 22, expressed belief that the Chinese activities in the South China Sea were supported by the Chinese government, considering that Beijing is subsidizing Chinese fishers to fish in the waters that only started when disputes in the South China Sea arose.

"This is a choice made by Beijing to subsidize fishing in areas where no Chinese fishing boat would operate if the state didn't pay them," he said.

"And the simplest evidence for that is the fact that from the end of World War II until the late 1980s, there is no record of Chinese fishing at either Bajo de Masinloc or anywhere in the Kalayaan Islands," he added.

He said China has a choice to source its fish from other areas considering the vast ocean that surrounds it. But it has preferred to overfish in the South China Sea.

Poling urged countries, especially the claimant states of the South China Sea, to form a coalition urging Beijing to stop its damaging activities in the waters.

He found it necessary as the South China Sea "is the most productive fishing ground on Earth," with 12 percent of the global fish catch being sourced there.

"Invite China to join [in marine scientific research in the area]. China will probably say no, but then that further damages China's credibility because why wouldn't China want to save coral reefs," he said.