MANILA -- The Philippines immigration bureau on Wednesday said it has resumed stamping Chinese passports, whose pages bear a faint map showing Beijing's expansive claim over the disputed South China Sea.
The bureau said it halted stamping Chinese passports in 2012 in accordance with the Philippine foreign ministry's policy of issuing visas "on a separate sheet of paper." The policy came after Chinese and Philippine vessels engaged in a monthslong standoff in the Scarborough Shoal in mid-2012, souring relations.