BERLIN, Germany—President Marcos denied China's claims that the Philippines rejected its proposals on addressing maritime-related issues in the disputed West Philippine Sea but questioned the basis of their propositions, particularly the use of the so-called Ten-Dash Line.

In a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz here, the President said nobody recognizes China's Ten-Dash Line.

"We have not rejected any proposals that China has made for us but the premise is something that we question," he said on Tuesday, March 12 (Berlin time).

"That premise that China has made is that their territory follows what is now called as the Ten-Dash Line. This is not recognized by any country, any international body, certainly not by the Philippines," he added.

According to the President, the Philippines' national territory is well-established and discussions between the two countries would not forward as long as China insists on its conditions.

"Our baselines have been well-established for years now. We have the economic zone that China has already intruded upon and until that premise that China has made in terms of all these discussions with the Philippines, it is very difficult to see a way forward," Marcos said.

"The first article of the Constitution of the Philippines is the article that describes and defines the territorial area— maritime and land-based territory— of the Philippines. It is my duty, I have no choice, but to defend that and we will continue to defend that," he added.

In the same joint press conference, Chancellor Scholz reiterated Germany's full support for the Philippines in the issue of the South China Sea.

"We support the Philippines in ensuring that rights are being protected," he said.

"Respect for international law is of greatest importance to us and this is equally true for the international law that governs international navigation. We have the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), we have the arbitral tribunal. I believe it to be very important to adhere to the legislation in place," he added.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), it received several concept papers from China on various maritime-related proposals last year.

"While a few proposals were deemed somewhat workable, many of the remaining Chinese proposals were determined, after careful study, scrutiny, and deliberation within the Philippine Government, to be contrary to our national interests," the DFA said in a statement.

Among the latest proposals from China was it "insisted on actions that would be deemed as acquiescence or recognition of China's control and administration over the Ayungin Shoal." The DFA said the Philippines could not consider such a proposal "without violating the constitution or international law."