Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Tuesday that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea should be used to “peacefully and finally settle” the countries’ conflicting claims.

Chinese Embassy officials did not immediately comment. But Beijing claims all of the South China Sea on historical grounds and has in the past said that disputes over territory there, including the Spratly Islands, should be resolved through bilateral negotiations between claimants.

The most recent flare-up of the dispute was last month when the Philippines claimed that Chinese ships intruded into its territorial waters near the Spratlys. Beijing dismissed the claim as baseless.