THE United States (US) supports the Philippines continued calls on China to "respect" the international law of the sea in the South China Sea (SCS) amid the reported swarming of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Washington noted that Manilas call for Beijing to respect maritime law is "reflected in the UN (United Nations) Convention on the Law of the Sea, and its legal obligations pursuant to the 2016 arbitral ruling."

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines as it declared the so-called Chinas "nine-dash line" national boundary has no legal basis to claim historic rights to almost all resources in the SCS.

In a statement shared by the US Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, US Department of State Spokesman Ned Price voiced concern over the reported "swarming" of Chinese vessels in the Spratly islands.

"The reported escalating swarms of PRC (Peoples Republic of China) vessels in the vicinity of Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands interfere with the livelihoods of Philippine fishing communities," Price said.

These also "reflect continuing disregard for other South China Sea claimants and states lawfully operating in the region," he stressed.

"Furthermore, we share the Philippines concerns regarding the unsafe encounter that the PRC Coast Guard initiated with Philippines naval forces in the South China Sea, as documented before the Senate of the Philippines on December 14," he added.

Price was referring to the privilege speech of Sen. Francis Tolentino wherein the senator showed a video of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) seizing a rocket debris from the Philippine Navy (PN) that found it first floating near Pag-asa Island which is within Philippine territorial waters.

The video, taken on November 20, belied the November 22 statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry that there was "friendly consultation" supposedly initiated by the CCG in the retrieval of the rocket debris from the PN.

"The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in upholding the rules-based international order and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law," Price said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on November 24 sent a "note verbale" (NV) to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines asking Beijing to explain the reported tension between the two coast guards over the retrieval of the space debris.

The DFA later filed, on December 14, a diplomatic protest before the Chinese embassy concerning the "snatching" of the rocket debris by the CCG from the PN and Chinese intrusion in the WPS.

In a text message, DFA Spokesman Ma. Teresita Daza said the government in 2022 had sent 193 NVs to the Chinese embassy "of which 65 NVs were [filed] during this [Marcos Jr.] administration.