The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Wednesday debunked reports the dredging ship recently seized by Philippine Coast Guard off Bataan came from China.
“Initial investigation on the identity of MV Zhonhai 68 by relevant Chinese authorities has shown that the ship is not registered in China and not a Chinese ship,” the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy stressed there was no Chinese national on board the ship when it was apprehended by the joint operatives of the PCG and Bureau of Customs due to its illegal presence in waters off Orion Point on January 27.
The statement came after the Philippine Coast Guard identified the ship as a “Chinese dredger type vessel.” The PCG also reported that the ship’s two Cambodian crewmembers failed to present proper documents during the inspection.
The Chinese Embassy revealed that information from the International Maritime Organization showed the ship with an IMO number of 8692665, is under the flag of Sierra Leone.
“The embassy hopes that any responsible remarks and reports should be based on facts, rather than speculation and misinformation. China is ready to render further assistance to the Philippine authorities concerned in its investigation, should there be such a need,” it said.
The House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc filed a resolution this week seeking an investigation on the proliferation of the alleged Chinese dredging ships illegally operating in Philippine waters.
Meanwhile, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa has rallied behind the proposed joint diplomatic protest among the Southeast Asian Nation claimants in the West Philippines Sea following the implementation of a new Chinese Coast Guard law.
The new law allows Chinese troops to fire at foreign vessels that will be caught sailing within the waters being claimed by China.
Dela Rosa said the diplomatic action being proposed by fellow senator Francis Tolentino through a resolution must be done soon to avert possible chaos in the contested area.
“I fully support him with that kind of move, because I know that Senator Tolentino is good when it comes to international law. He knows it well.I support him there. We should really do that thing,” Dela Rosa said.
The former police chief acknowledged that as a sovereign state, China could enact its own laws, but expressed that the Philippines should protest since the country was a claimant of the Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Island in the West Philippine Sea.
He noted the Philippines could not prevent China from making their own laws because that was their sovereign power.
“What we can do is to expedite our protest and if Senator Tolentino will file a resolution pertaining to that, that we will forge an alliance with the other affected Southeast Asian Nations in that Joint Protest, then I’ll vote for that resolution,” the Mindanaoan senator added.
He also said the proposed conduct of joint naval drills in the area between the Philippines and United States military was a good idea to prevent the Chinese militia from attacking Filipino fishermen in the contested waters.
During the hearing of the Department of National Defense budget in October last year, Dela Rosa requested from the department not to tolerate any bullying from neighboring countries in the West Philippine Sea.