MANILA: Manila expects China to try to build on a reef off the Philippines' coast, the country's defense secretary said Tuesday, a move he said would be 'unacceptable' in the flashpoint waterway.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Delfin Lorenzana said he believed China would eventually reclaim the Scarborough Shoal, which sits just 230 kilometers (143 miles) from the main Philippine island of Luzon.