The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday called out China’s Consul General in Manila, Zhang Zhen, for her remarks that apparently “misrepresented facts over the West Philippine Sea.”
Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy reported that at least 14 Chinese vessels were spotted in some features of the Kalayaan Island group in the WPS.
In a related development, a Philippine Coast Guard senior official said the government will continue its transparency strategy that exposes aggressive Chinese actions in West Philippine Sea despite Manila and Beijing’s agreement last month to deescalate tensions in the resource-rich waters.
“We note the statement made by the Chinese Consul General last 8 February 2024. We take serious exception to China’s continued misrepresentation of the law and the facts,” the DFA said in a statement.
The Philippine government’s response came after Zhang, during a Chinese New Year celebration in Iloilo City, said that the arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea was “illegal, null, and void,” adding that China “has never and will never accept it.”
Zhang also maintained that China’s claim over the disputed territorial waters was based on historical and legal facts and cited news articles from China’s state media to support their claim.
”The Philippines and China are both parties to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” DFA said.
”We have and will consistently call on China to act responsibly and abide by its obligations under UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea,” the DFA statement stressed.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, the Philippine Navy spokesperson for WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said at least Chinese vessels were seen in the following features of
Pagasa, one China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel and four Chinese fishing vessels most likely militia; Panata, five Chinese fishing vessels; Kota – two Chinese fishing vessels; Ayungin, one CCG vessel; and Parola, one Chinese fishing vessel;
Asked if the number of Chinese vessels in these areas is “unusually low,” Trinidad said that the monitoring was at a particular time only and not for 24 hours.
He added that a longer period of time would be needed to be able to make an assessment of the behavior of China in these areas.
“The normalcy of the South China Sea will not depend on the numbers. It’s not alarming if the numbers will be high,” Trinidad said.
He quoted the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Public Affairs Office as saying that what is alarming “are the actions, not the number of ships or vessels,”.
Trinidad said also said that over the weekend two People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels of China were spotted “in the horizon” during the Philippines-United States’ third maritime cooperative activity in the WPS.
“There was the presence of two PLA Navy ships in the horizon. No maritime militia, no coast guard vessels were monitored. They did not interfere in any, whatsoever,” he said.
In January, the Philippines and China sought to deescalate tensions in the South China Sea.
Both sides agreed to improve an existing maritime communication mechanism to prevent incidents and any miscalculations in the disputed waters.
The Philippines has repeatedly called out China over its repeated aggression in the WPS that includes the ramming and firing of water cannons at Philippine vessels.
Tensions between China and the Philippines have heightened in recent months as both sides traded accusations over a series of incidents in the WPS.
China claims most of the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated China’s claim in a ruling on a case brought by the Philippines, which Beijing rejects.
PCG spokesman for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said the Philippine policy has not changed and will continue, adding that it will resume the involvement of Filipino journalists in patrols in the WPS.
“Let me again emphasize that our transparency initiative remains to be the same, how aggressive we are, how we started until now it remains to be the same,” Tarriela said at the Stratbase-ADR Institute forum in Makati City.
He said there is no existing “mechanism or a detailed guidance” from the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) sent to the PCG to calibrate its policy or tone down its statements following the Shanghai meeting last month.
“Nothing has changed,” said Tarriela.
A vital trading and shipping lane, the South China Sea, dotted with rocks, shoals and reefs where rich oil and mineral deposits were found, are claimed in part or in whole by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Parts of the waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone have been renamed West Philippine Sea by the Philippine government.
“We still choose to publicize the aggressive actions of China just like we did last weekend when the Chinese coast guard did a dangerous maneuver, provocative behavior, crossing the bow of the Philippine coast guard. Those videos and photos were still released,” Tarriela said.
In that incident, Tarriela said the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels carried out “dangerous and blocking maneuvers at sea against BRP Teresa Magbanua four times, with the CCG vessels crossing the bow of the PCG vessel twice.”
The PCG also said its ship was shadowed by four CCG vessels on more than 40 occasions.
At a January 17 meeting in Shanghai, the Philippines and China agreed to deescalate tensions in the South China Sea and vowed to improve existing maritime communication mechanisms to prevent incidents and any miscalculations in the disputed waters that could cause a much bigger conflict.
During the talks, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong “had frank and productive discussions to deescalate the situation,” as both sides “agreed to calmly deal with incidents, if any, through diplomacy,” a Department of Foreign Affairs statement said last month.
Hostilities in the South China Sea have sparked fears of a major conflict that could draw in the United States, Manila’s long-time treaty ally.
Washington said that it stands by its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty commitments with the Philippines if Filipinos, including its public vessels, come under an armed attack in the disputed waters.
China’s vast territorial claims in the waters have sparked tensions and violent confrontations with smaller claimants, like the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Philippines largely won a landmark case against China’s massive claim in the South China Sea before an arbitration tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, but Beijing refused to participate in the arbitration process and is not recognizing the ruling.
“The toning down a bit (of) our transparency (policy), it has never happened yet. We haven’t received anything yet that would, you know, say that we are deescalating because of the agreed terms of the Jan 17 meeting,” Tarriela said, citing the positive gains of Manila’s transparency strategy to expose Chinese aggression in WPS.
“I don’t agree with the term “both countries would deescalate” because we’re not escalating the tensions, we are just exercising our sovereign rights,” he said.
