Amid the conduct of a bilateral consultation meeting (BCM) between Manila and Beijing, the Philippine Navy has yet to observe a concrete sign of de-escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Philippine Spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the only indicator that tension is slowly easing is the decreasing number of Chinese vessels operating in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“We are continuously monitoring the number of ships in the West Philippine Sea. Based on the numbers for the past one month, we have seen a decrease,” Trinidad said. “If ever this is related to the BCM talks, it remains to be seen.”
“Apart from that, we haven’t seen any other activity that would indicate changes in the behavior of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N), China Coast Guard (CCG), and Chinese maritime militia vessels (CMMVs),” he added.
On July 2, the 9th Philippines-China BCM was held between Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong in Manila with hopes of defusing the tension over the two countries’ territorial disputes.
In the same meeting, Manila and Beijing signed the “Arrangement on Improving Philippines-China Maritime Communication Mechanisms.” This elevates the communication lines between the two countries on South China Sea matters to their presidential offices and foreign ministries.
The BCM followed the violent June 17 rotation and resupply (RoRe) mission in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, where an elite Filipino navy trooper lost his thumb after a CCG boat rammed an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vessel.
Records from the AFP showed that the number of Chinese vessels, which operate in the WPS fluctuated after the said resupply mission.
From June 18 to 24, there were a total of 129 CCG, PLA-N, and CMMVs in the WPS. This declined in the following week after the AFP spotted 95 Chinese vessels from June 25 to July 1.
The decline was sustained from July 2 to 8, the same week that the BCM was held, after the AFP logged 94 Chinese vessels. However, the number increased last week as there were 104 Chinese vessels in the WPS from July 9 to 15.
Trinidad said that whether China is committed or not to de-escalate the tension will be revealed when the next resupply mission is carried out.
“We will know about this in the next RoRe, but for now, our basis for our assessment is the number of ships that we monitored,” he noted, while refusing to divulge the details of the next resupply mission.
