China is contesting the West Philippine Sea label that has recently become searchable in Google Maps.
 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responds to Google Maps labelling the disputed waters as West Philippine Sea. (Google Maps, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China)

During the regular press conference of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Tuesday, April 15, the official reiterated that the name “South China Sea” has long been recognized by the international community.
 

“Let me point out that “South China Sea” is the geographic name that has long been used, recognized and accepted by the international community, including countries worldwide and international organizations such as the UN (United Nations),” he said.
 

A recent Google Maps search of the Panatag or Scarborough Shoal, a maritime feature within the 200-nautical miles exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and was the site of the 2012 standoff between the navies of both countries, showed it is within a body of water labeled “West Philippine Sea.”
 

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has welcomed the inclusion of the West Philippine Sea label on the web mapping platform, noting that it affirmed the international recognition of the country's sovereign rights, which was upheld in the 2016 arbitral ruling under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
 

“For the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as defenders of our national sovereignty, we see this as a valuable contribution to truthful representation, and of course public awareness,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said in a press briefing on Tuesday at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
 

During the Aquino administration in 2012, the Philippines officially named its territory in the western side of the country as West Philippine Sea.
 

It also pursued an arbitral case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague and in 2016, the tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines, saying that China’s nine-dash line claim has no legal basis.
 

The ruling also said the Ayungin Shoal, the Spratly Islands, Panganiban or Mischief Reef, and Recto or Reed Bank are within the Philippines’ EEZ.
 

However, China has refused to recognize the ruling and the tribunal has no enforcement mechanism.
 

This has led to more aggressions in the resource-rich waters, with the recently recorded incident when a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel shadowed and blocked the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel BRP Cabra 170 kilometers off the coast of Zambales.
 

Earlier this month, the PCG also detected a Chinese research vessel operating within the country’s archipelagic waters, or merely 58 nautical miles off Aborlan, Palawan.