More than ample proof that China is not interested in any dialogue or negotiation with our country on the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea is the latest incident on the morning of Sunday, October 22, when a China Coast Guard ship rammed one of two boats used by the Philippine Navy for rotation and resupply missions to Filipino troops stationed on Ayungin Shoal.
During that same mission, the port side of a Philippine Coast Guard vessel was also bumped by a Chinese maritime militia vessel, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported.
Both incidents, according to the Task Force, constituted “dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions” of the CCG and Chinese maritime militia that are “in violation of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction and in utter blatant disregard of the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea and relevant international maritime conventions, and the 2016 Arbitral Award.”
We agree.
The Chinese Coast Guard defended its actions by saying our vessels “seriously violated the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea and threatened the navigation safety of the Chinese vessels.
“The operation of Chinese side was professional, legitimate, and lawful and the responsibility [lies] entirely with the Philippine side.”
This is arrant nonsense.
We’re glad that the latest maritime run-in between Manila and Beijing has drawn condemnation from several countries.
The United States said China’s “latest disruption of a legal Philippine resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal” placed the lives of Filipino troops at risk.
Canada also criticized the incident, saying it was provoked by the CCG’s “unlawful and dangerous conduct.”
The European Union said incidents, their repetition and intensification are dangerous and very disturbing, adding “We join the Philippines in its call for the full observance of International Law in the South China Sea.”
At the same time, Netherlands has stood with the Philippines in its call “for the full observance of international law in the South China Sea,” while the German Embassy declared its concern over recent “confrontations” in the South China Sea.
The latest incidents in the West Philippine Sea indicate China’s obdurate refusal to recognize our sovereignty over our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone even as it claims to uphold diplomacy as the key to the settlement of territorial disputes.
It is utterly useless to negotiate with Beijing when all it wants is to harass and intimidate our troops using the so-called “10-dash line” map claiming ownership of nearly the whole of the South China Sea that is bereft of any historical or legal basis.