4 countries reject China’s latest map

The Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have rejected as baseless a map released by China that denotes its claims to sovereignty including in the South China Sea and which Beijing said yesterday should be viewed rationally and objectively.

China released the map on Monday of its famous U-shaped line covering about 90 percent of the South China Sea, a source of many of the disputes in one of the world's most contested waterways.

The Philippines called on China yesterday "to act responsibly and abide by its obligations" under international law.  Malaysia said it had filed a diplomatic protest over the map.

China says the line is based on its historic maps. It was not immediately clear whether the latest map denotes any new claim to territory.