China released the map on Monday of its famous U-shaped line covering about 90% of the South China Sea, a source of many of the disputes in one of the world's most contested waterways, where more than $3 trillion of trade passes each year.
he Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan have rejected as baseless a map released by China that denotes its claims to sovereignty including in the South China Sea, which Beijing on Thursday said should be viewed rationally and objectively.
China released the map on Monday of its famous U-shaped line covering about 90 percent of the South China Sea, a source of many of the disputes in one of the world's most contested waterways, where more than $3 trillion of trade passes each year.
The Philippines on Thursday called on China "to act responsibly and abide by its obligations" under international law and a 2016 arbitral ruling that had declared the line had no legal grounds.
Malaysia said it had filed a diplomatic protest over the map.
China says the line is based on its historic maps. It was not immediately clear whether the latest map denotes any new claim to territory.
China's U-shaped line loops as far as 1,500 km (932 miles) south of its Hainan island and cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
"This latest attempt to legitimise China's purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones has no basis under international law," the Philippine foreign ministry said.
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