China is putting ever-greater pressure on the Philippines to cede its sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Australian counterpart in Canberra.

Philippine President Marcos passed two maritime laws last week in a move that Manila says will strengthen its sovereignty over waters within the country’s archipelago and the South China Sea. Using standards set forth by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),