We join Philippine Coast Guard authorities in condemning the unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers of the China Coast Guard against recent resupply missions to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan said in a statement the systematic and consistent manner in which the CCG vessels harassed and intimidated Philippine vessels does not “align with the universally accepted behavior of a coast guard.”
Crisp and clear.
The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, intended to ensure the safety of life at sea, has been wittingly, if in cold blood, violated by China, sardonically a signatory state.
Last month, several countries expressed support for the Philippines after China Coast Guard ships collided with Filipino vessels within the former’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
The United States, for one, condemned the CCG’s dangerous blocking maneuvers, which resulted in the collision with a Philippine vessel on a resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.
The PCG has our hand as the skippers made sure that despite the Chinese vessels’ risky maneuvers, the Filipinos would still be able to prevent a collision.
Last Friday, a Chinese ship again fired a water cannon to impede a routine resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippines’ military outpost on Ayungin.
That caused an immediate filing by Manila of diplomatic protests against China’s latest coercive acts risky and let out Bejing’s “insincerity” in its call to peacefully resolve disputes in the South China Sea.
The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea earlier accused a CCG vessel with bow number 5203 of firing a water cannon at the supply boat Kalayaan in an “illegal though unsuccessful attempt to force the latter to alter course.”
Despite the harassment, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said Unaizah May 1 and ML Kalayaan, the two supply boats chartered by the Armed Forces, were able to successfully reach the ship and complete the rotational and reprovisioning mission.
In a statement, the NTF-WPS said the China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia vessels “recklessly harassed, blocked, executed dangerous maneuvers” to obstruct the mission to Ayungin.
Gavan has said the PCG “acted responsibly, consistent with a rules-based international law, that aligns with the regional norm among the coast guard organizations in the region.”
Unlimited diplomatic protests and forever acting responsibly are always on our rails – which may not be near China’s appreciation.
We cannot second-guess what’s going to happen while we watch developments in clearly our own waters by a giant bully browbeating a smaller neighbor.