(CNN) China has expressed its displeasure at a ragtag band of Filipino activists who have waded into a regional dispute over territory in the South China Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said the Chinese government is "strongly dissatisfied" with protestors from the Philippines, who landed Saturday on a small island that is a source of tension between the two neighbors.
"We once again urge the Philippine side to withdraw all its personnel and facilities from the Chinese islands and reefs it is illegally occupying," spokesperson Lu said.
Some 47 young activists landed on the island to protest China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea, according to Joy Ban-eg, a spokesperson for the group.
"China has no right to order us or direct us to stay away from our own territory," Ban-eg said.
The young activists have erected tents on the island.
The group of protestors posted pictures of themselves on the beach on Facebook.
The island at the center of the dispute is known as Pagasa by the Philippines and Zhongye by China. Its currently occupied by Filipino civilians and military personnel, but China claims it and the surrounding islands chain as its sovereign territory.
In the past two years, China has reclaimed some 2,000 acres of land in a massive dredging operation, turning sandbars into islands equipped with airfields, ports and lighthouses.
Thought to be rich in resources, the South China Sea is subject to overlapping land claims from nations including China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
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