spot_img
27.7 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Defense chief tiptoes on reef case with China

- Advertisement -

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has said deploying Filipino ships in the Julian Felipe Reef may “militarize” the area but quickly added “we have to avoid provocation”–with some 200 Chinese vessels there, reported by Beijing as taking shelter from bad weather.

Lorenzana on Monday announced a Coast Guard ship might be stationed off Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea to monitor the large number of Chinese vessels that have massed in the vicinity since March 7.

Lorenzana, in an interview with CNN Philippines, said Coast Guard ships would be constantly stationed in the area.

“I think we are going to station a Coast Guard ship there continuously,” he said.

The Philippine Navy will still be in the general vicinity so as not to be accused of “provoking an incident” and “militarizing the area”.

- Advertisement -

There have been no physical confrontations but Lorenzana noted the Chinese vessels had sent out “warnings” for the Philippine ships not to approach them.

In the meantime, a Philippine air force jet is conducting daily patrols over Chinese fishing vessels parked near the reef, Lorenzana said, as Beijing refuses to pull the ships out of the area.

Meanwhile, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stood with the Philippines as China maritime militia ships swarm around Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

“The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of the PRC’s maritime militia amassing at WhitsunReef,” Blinken posted on his Twitter account.

“We will always stand by our allies and stand up for the rules-based international order,” he added.

Blinken made the statement as Lorenzana assured the public the government was assessing the situation in Julian Felipe Reef and was ready to defend the country’s sovereignty.

“I assure our people that we are addressing the situation. We stand by our position calling for the immediate withdrawal of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef, which was communicated to the Chinese Ambassador,” Lorenzana said last weekend.

“We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines,” he added.

At the same time, Lorenzana announced that more Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard ships would be sent to the area.

“There will be an increased presence of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard ships to conduct sovereignty patrols and protect our fishermen in the West Philippine Sea,” he stressed.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs filed diplomatic protest against the presence of 220 Chinese militia vessels at Julian Felipe Reef.

In Congress, a congressional leader took note of “considerable risk” that a Chinese vessel might end up accidentally running aground in the shallow waters and submerged ridges of the West Philippine Sea.

“We would urge the National Task Force for the WPS to seriously consider this risk, at the rate Chinese vessels are swarming around Julian Felipe Reef,” Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, chairperson of the House committee on strategic intelligence, said.

“In fact, the task force may have to prepare a contingency plan – a comprehensive course of action – in the event of such an unpleasant incident,” Pimentel said.

At the same time, Pimentel, a deputy speaker, voiced concern over the “reef degradation” caused by the horde of Chinese vessels.

“It is not really good for ships to moor there for extended periods because anchors can cause extensive damage to coral reefs and reef-associated habitat such as seagrass beds,” Pimentel pointed out.

“In fact, the hazard of reef damage gets worse during bad weather owing to the risk of anchor dragging and grounding,” Pimentel said.

Last week, the Philippine government demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Chinese vessels moored within the West Philippine Sea, saying their presence was a blatant infringement of the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

The Chinese Embassy denied the vessels were operated by Chinese maritime militia.

It said the vessels were only “seeking shelter” near the reef, which they claimed was part of China’s Nansha Islands or Spratlys in the South China Sea.

In related developments, Australia has expressed concern over recent “destabilizing actions” in the South China Sea, its envoy to the Philippines said Monday, as China continued its assertive maritime agenda in the vital waterway.

“Australia supports an Indo-Pacific region which is secure, stable and sovereign. The South China Sea, [which] is a critical international waterway, is governed by international rules and norms, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is very important to us,” Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson told ANC.

“As a consequence, we remain concerned about any destabilizing actions that could provoke escalation in the South China Sea.”

France and Germany, the latest among those who issued a statement, also called on parties “to refrain from measures which endanger peace, stability, and security” in the Indo-Pacific.

Lorenzana said the Philippines would use white ships, meaning law enforcement vessels like the Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, which are civilian ships.

He added there was also a suggestion to take a tanker near the reef like what was previously done in the Ayungin Reef where a Navy landing ship, the BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), which ran aground in 1999, is now being used as headquarters by Philippine Marine Corps personnel tasked to guard the country’s claims in the area.

Lorenzana, however, said they were still looking at this proposal.

At the same time, Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovannoi Carlo Bacordo said several naval ships were ready for patrol missions at the Julian Felipe Reef but this would be up to the operational commanders when to deploy them.

Some of the ships that can be deployed to patrol the WPS include the offshore patrol vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16) and the anti-submarine corvette BRP Conrado Yap (PS-39).

“As to what vessels will be deployed to Julian Felipe Reef or the details of their deployment, that’s the call of the operational commanders,” Bacordo said.

The military’s first missile frigate, the BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) would be deployed to the WPS only through an order from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Lorenzana said: “We are ready to defend our national sovereignty and protect the marine resources of the Philippines,” Lorenzana said, repeating a call for the Chinese ships to withdraw.

He added there would be an “increased presence” of navy and coast guard ships patrolling Philippine waters.

The resource-rich South China Sea is contested by several countries, including the Philippines and China.

Beijing often invokes the so-called nine-dash line to justify its apparent historic rights over most of it, and has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared this assertion as without basis.

President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed concern over the presence of the vessels to the Chinese ambassador in Manila, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday.

Duterte has fostered warmer ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016 in exchange for greater economic cooperation with its superpower neighbor.

But the shift has failed to stem Chinese ambitions in the South China Sea, or unlock much of the billions of dollars of promised trade and loans. With PNA and AFP

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles