The Philippines on Tuesday protested China’s use of military-grade laser, together with harmful maneuvers, in opposition to a Coast Guard vessle whereas on a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed in Ayungin Shoal.
In a protest lodged by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila known as out China’s Coast Guard for its “latest aggressive activities” in opposition to Philippine vessels, heightening tensions anew between the 2 Asian neighbors locked in yearslong territorial disputes within the resource-rich waters.
“The diplomatic protest, released to the Chinese Embassy in Manila on 14 February 2023, condemned the shadowing, harassment, dangerous maneuvers, directing of military-grade laser, and illegal radio challenges by CCG vessel 5205 against PCG vessel BRP Malapascua on 6 February 2023,” a DFA assertion stated.
Actions of the Chinese Coast Guard in opposition to the Philippine vessel “constituted a threat” to the nation’s “sovereignty and security as a state, and are infringements of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone,” the DFA stated.
“The Philippines has the prerogative to conduct legitimate activities within its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. China does not have law enforcement rights or powers in and around Ayungin Shoal or any part of the Philippine EEZ,” stated DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza.
Calling China’s motion “provocative and unsafe,” the United States declared assist for the Philippines, a long-time protection ally, in opposition to harassment, reiterating that “an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard in the South China Sea, would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.”
A 1951 protection pact between Manila and Washington binds the 2 allies to return to one another’s support from aggression and assist defend the opposite social gathering.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price stated the US “stands with our Philippine allies” within the face of China’s newest aggressive act.
The Philippine Coast Guard stated a Chinese ship pointed a “military-grade” laser mild at one among its vessels supporting a Philippine Navy rotation and resupply mission on Feb. 6.
A Philippine Naval vessel – the BRP Sierra Madre – has been grounded at Ayungin shoal since 1999.
It is 105.77 nautical miles from the closest Philippine province of Palawan and constitutes a part of the nation’s 200-nautical mile continental shelf as supplied beneath the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
‘Intruding without Chinese permission’
China insists that the shoal, which it calls Ren’ai Reef, is a part of China’s Nansha Islands or what the Philippines refers to as Spratly Islands.
Defending its coast guard’s motion, Beijing accused the Philippine Coast Guard vessel of intruding into the waters off the Ren’ai Reef “without Chinese permission.” China just about claims the South China Sea practically in its entirety.
Citing home regulation and worldwide regulation, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated the CCG simply upheld China’s sovereignty and maritime order in addition to acted in a “professional” and “restrained” manner.
“We hope the Philippine side will respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and avoid taking any actions that may exacerbate disputes and complicate the situation,” he stated.
But Daza stated, “These acts of aggression by China are disturbing and disappointing as it closely follows the state visit to China of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in early January during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to manage maritime differences through diplomacy and dialogue, without resorting to force and intimidation.”
The Philippine authorities stated China’s CCG 5205 interfered with the Philippine Coast Guard mission, directing a military-grade laser that brought on non permanent blindness to Filipino crew members aboard BRP Malapascua.
Officials stated the Chinese vessel then undertook harmful maneuvers by approaching at an in depth distance from BRP Malapascua, risking a collision that endangered the Philippine crew. The Chinese vessel, they added, issued unlawful radio challenges that demanded that the Philippine vessel depart the realm.
“We call on China to comply with its obligations under international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS and the 2016 Award in the South China Sea Arbitration and direct its vessels to cease and desist from its aggressive activities against Philippine vessels,” stated Daza.
The Hague ruling
In 2013, the Philippines challenged China’s authorized foundation for its huge declare within the South China Sea earlier than the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. Manila gained the case in a landmark award in 2016 after the tribunal invalidated Beijing’s assertions.
China has ignored and belittled the ruling, sustaining “indisputable” and “historical” declare over practically the whole waters even because it encroaches on the territories of its smaller neighbors just like the Philippines.
For years, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and China have been locked in terrirorial disputes within the South China Sea, an important sea lane the place oil and pure fuel have been found.
China has since beefed up its reclamation actions in different disputed areas and remodeled beforehand submerged options into synthetic islands with multi-level buildings and runways. It has additionally put in surface-to-air missiles in these areas, triggering considerations from nations, such because the US, Japan and Australia. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
