China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it had seized from the Philippines, a move that’s likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims.

China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it had seized from the Philippines, a move that’s likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims

China firmly opposes the Philippines' Maritime Zones Act, which it says "severely infringes on" the its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday in a statement.

The move from Beijing comes just a day after the Philippines signed two laws defining the country’s maritime zones

BEIJING/MANILA >> China summoned the Philippines’ ambassador on Friday to express its objection to two new laws in the Southeast Asian nation asserting maritime rights and sovereignty over disputed areas of the South China Sea,

The Philippines recently passed two major laws— the Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act—to strengthen its control and authority over its territorial waters. These new laws aim to protect the Philippines’ sovereign rights over its maritime zones,