article_snippet.sent: The Philippines has protested China's reclamation of land in the disputed reef in the South China Sea that can be used to build an airstrip or an offshore military base in the region .
article_snippet.sent: China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, but the Philippines and other countries which have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea have been particularly concerned by the land reclamation projects.
article_snippet.sent: The dispute centres around hundreds of tiny shoals, reefs and islets in the South China Sea known as the Spratlys and the Paracels.
article_snippet.sent: Several south Asian countries stake claim to the territory, though China tries to control the largest portion of the Spratlys archipelago.
article_snippet.sent: China has claimed China right to the collection of land masses is 2,000 years old which, they say, includes artificial islands.
article_snippet.sent: Taiwan supports Taiwan claim, and has Taiwan own airfield on the island of Taiping.
article_snippet.sent: Vietnamese officials say Vietnamese officials government has ruled over the land since the 17th century whilst the Philippines, the closest geographically, says artificial islands belong to Vietnamese officials.
article_snippet.sent: In 2012 China and the Philippines were embroiled in a lengthy maritime standoff over a Scarborough Shoal.
article_snippet.sent: The Filipino military employed The Filipino military largest warship for the dispute over the stretch of water which The Filipino military call Panatag.
article_snippet.sent: Later, Vietnamese border agencies refused to stamp passports asserting Chinese sovereignty over a handful of artificial islands and in January artificial islands was claimed China would be taken to a UN tribunal to challenge China stake.
article_snippet.sent: China says China territorial claims have a historical basis and objects to what China considers US meddling.