Beijing and Manila find themselves in renewed conflict over the South China Sea, with China rejecting recent Philippine maritime claims, saying the legislation "severely infringes on" China's territorial sovereignty.

BEIJING >> China rejected Philippine maritime claims on Sunday, saying new legislation “severely infringes on” Beijing’s territorial sovereignty and rights in the South China Sea, and vowing to protect its own interests.

Malaysia sends a letter of complaint to Vietnam over its alleged expansion of a coral reef in the disputed Spratly Islands that both countries claim as their own.

Malaysia has filed a formal complaint against Vietnam, accusing it of expanding the Barque Canada Reef in the contested South China Sea. The reef is part of the disputed Spratly Islands, claimed by several countries.

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

The Chinese government reaffirms its opposition to the Philippines' new maritime law as it delimits and declares Beijing's "baselines" of the territorial sea adjacent to Scarborough Shoal, or what it calls Huangyan Dao.

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,