The Philippine government has already filed more than 200 diplomatic notes against China, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
The DFA said the 211 diplomatic notes were filed amid China’s continuing incursions in the country’s waters.
Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez of the DFA Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy (OPCD), quoted by an ABS CBN report, said that “more than half or 153 notes verbale were filed this year alone.”
The latest protest was issued on Sept. 30, the DFA said.
The DFA further said the latest protest included incidents in August. The Philippine military’s Western Command in Palawan reported that “the Chinese issued warnings” against patrols in the West Philippine Sea, a disputed area.
Reports said Manila and Beijing continue to be locked in a maritime dispute over the South China Sea, where the West Philippine Sea is located.
The Philippine government earlier filed a protest against “unlawful” and “provocative acts” by Chinese state vessels in the West Philippine Sea, including the issuance of 200 radio challenges.
“The DFA protested the unlawful issuance of over 200 radio challenges, sounding of sirens, and blowing of horns by Chinese government vessels against Philippine authorities conducting legitimate, customary, and routine patrols over and around the Philippines’ territory and maritime zones,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Wednesday evening.
“These provocative acts threaten the peace, good order, and security of the South China Sea and run contrary to China’s obligations under international law,” the DFA added.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said it is working closely with the DFA to file new diplomatic protests against the continuous presence and activities of foreign vessels in the WPS.
BFAR expressed “serious concern” over the continuous presence of foreign vessels conducting fishing operations in the Philippine waters.
It said Chinese maritime militia vessels had been monitored in big numbers in the WPS, among other concerns.
In a 2016 arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines, the Hague-based Permanent Court of
Arbitration ruled that Beijing’s nine-dash line, a demarcation that covers almost 80 percent of the South China Sea, is illegal.