The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said China’s recent water cannon attack and continued dangerous maneuvers against Philippine personnel in the West Philippine Sea may harm its relations with the Philippines, as it expressed its disappointment in the futility of various diplomatic actions Manila has always been taking.
In a joint press conference with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the National Security Council (NSC), the DFA said the latest incident in the Ayungin Shoal “does provide tension in our bilateral relations.”
Saying the Philippines values its ties with China, the agency hopes the latter would do the same.
“This incident undermines efforts to strengthen people’s trust and confidence—a crucial element in friendly relations among states,” Ma. Teresita Daza, DFA spokesperson, said.
Daza said the agency is disappointed that the direct communication mechanism established to address sea row concerns following President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s trip to China in January did not work.
“The DFA was unable to reach its counterpart to the maritime communication mechanism for several hours while the incident was occurring, and expressed the hope that the Chinese side will reciprocate the same sense of urgency,” Daza said.
Despite the many diplomatic protests filed by the Philippines against China, which have been falling on deaf ears, Daza said the government will still exhaust all diplomatic efforts and take advantage of various fora to address the matter.
On Saturday, August 5, a total of 10 Chinese vessels—composed of those from the Chinese coast guard, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, and the Chinese militia—conducted what looked like concerted dangerous actions in the Ayungin Shoal against Philippine vessels, according to PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela.
Ayungin Shoal is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone, as defined by the International Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Such actions included blocking, dangerous maneuvers and water cannon attacks that almost rammed and eventually prevented two Philippine boats to do their resupply mission to the Philippine navy vessel BRP Sierra Madre.
The DFA has demanded China to “immediately stop its illegal activities” in the Philippine maritime zones as the agency asserted that China “cannot lawfully exercise sovereignty” over the Philippine waters.
“The DFA is one with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard in their pursuit of our shared mandate to protect and uphold our legal maritime entitlement,” she said.
Daza said the DFA will exercise all possible actions, including the summoning of Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian—which it already did earlier—to handle the issue.
DFA Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations Ma. Theresa Lazaro summoned Huang early Monday to convey the government’s “strong protest” and handed yet another note verbale over the incident, Daza said. There are already 35 note verbales filed by Manila against Beijing just in 2023 or 445 in total since 2020.
