CHINA says the issue on Sandy Cay, a strip of sandbars in the disputed West Philippine Sea, has been “resolved” through diplomatic channels.
In a diplomatic reception on Monday evening, Chinese ambassador to Manila Zhao Jianhua said that people should not “worry,” reacting to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warning that such action of deploying Chinese Navy, Coast Guard ships and a flotilla of paramilitary fishing forces near the strip was tantamount to an “invasion.”
“The issue has been successfully addressed through diplomatic channels…don’t worry,” Zhao said.
“Don’t worry,” Zhao told journalists at a diplomatic reception Monday evening.
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano disagreed with Carpio’s pronouncements and declared without elaborating that the issue had been resolved quietly and diplomatically by the Philippines and China.
Zhao backed Cayetano’s remarks but also did not elaborate on the touchy issue.
President Rodrigo Duterte also said he was assured by China, through Zhao, that it would not invade the sandbars.
Cayetano confirmed the talks through diplomatic channels but refused to divulge the details.
He also disagreed with Carpio’s remark.
Zhao also said Chinese President Xi Jinping was set to make an official visit to the Philippines next year while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang would still be the one representing his country to attend the Asean summit in November, where the Philippines is the current chairman.
“Ever since President Duterte took office, our relationship has dramatically improved. Relations and cooperation have entered a new era, so we need to continue to properly handle the disputes that we have,” Zhao said.
Zhao said Li’s visit to the Philippines was the first time in about 10 years.
He also noted it was also the first time for Xi to visit the Philippines.
“President Duterte has been to China twice and it’s time for our president to come,” Zhao said.
The date of Xi’s visit is still being finalized, but Zhao said “definitely he will (make the visit).”
“It is going to be hugely significant, it’s going to be very, very fruitful,” Zhao said of Xi’s Philippine visit.
According to Duterte, China was only patrolling the area, contrary to Carpio’s claim that Chinese vessels have occupied the strip.
“China assured me that they will not build anything there,” Duterte told journalists last month.
“I called the Ambassador, he said, ‘We will assure you that we are not building anything there,’” Duterte said, referring to Zhao.
Initially, the Sandy Cay incident, the latest issue in the disputed West Philippine Sea to emerge between China and the Philippines, appeared poised to spoil the improved relations between the Asian neighbors under Duterte and Xi.
But Cayetano later spoke in public amid growing speculations about the incident and gave assurances the issue has been resolved diplomatically.
Cayetano and other officials have not divulged any details of what actually transpired at Sandy Cay.
A recent wire news report, quoting Philippine security sources, said that China has actually suspected that the Philippines has plotted to occupy the sandbars, which lies within Pagasa Island’s 12 nautical mile territorial waters.
China deployed three navy vessels, coast guard ships and a flotilla of fishing boats to Sandy Cay in mid-August after it spotted Filipino fishermen, on board boats, set a foothold on the sandbars, the report said.
The report quoted a senior Philippine diplomat as saying that China “is concerned that we will build.”
China insists “indisputable” and “historical” claim over virtually the entire South China Sea.
Some parts of waters that fall within Manila’s exclusive economic zone had been renamed West Philippine Sea by the Philippine government.
China’s aggressive actions and growing military presence in the potentially oil-rich waters, where Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims, have sparked concerns among many countries, such as the US, Japan and Australia.
They feared that China’s actions would impede freedom of navigation and overflights in South China Sea.
In July 2016, the arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled heavily in favor of the Philippines when it invalidated China’s historical and massive claim in South China Sea.
Duterte has set aside the ruling, but vowed to raise it with China “at a proper time.”