China accused the Philippines Wednesday of ignoring requests for dialogue about their maritime dispute, as tensions rise before an international tribunal's ruling on the territorial row.
The Philippines has "unilaterally closed the door of settling the South China Sea issue with China through negotiation", China's foreign ministry said in a lengthy statement published by the official Xinhua news agency.
The statement came a day after the end of an annual meeting between the US and China in Beijing, at which the two countries failed to make progress on the issue.
China asserts ownership over nearly all of the sea despite competing claims by several of its Southeast Asian neighbours, and has rapidly built artificial islands suitable for military use.
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