China says it has right to protect relevant islands

BEIJING (Reuters) – China rebuffed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's call for Beijing to rethink its conduct in the South China Sea on Thursday, saying China had the right to react to foreign ships or aircraft that get close to its islands.

Duterte said China has no right to repel foreign aircraft and boats passing by its artificial islands in the disputed waterway, and that he hoped China would “temper” its behavior and stop restricting movements.

In a statement sent to Reuters, China's Foreign Ministry said the Spratly Islands are China's inherent territory and that China respects the right to freedom of naviga-

tion and overflight that all countries enjoy in the South China Sea under international law.

“But China has a right to take necessary steps to respond to foreign aircraft and ships that deliberately get close to or make incursions into the air and waters near China's relevant islands, and provocative actions that threaten the security of Chinese personnel stationed there,” it said.

“China urges the relevant party to meet China halfway, and jointly protect the present good situation that has not come easily in the South China Sea,” the ministry added, without elaborating.

China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have competing claims to the Spratly archipelago, where China has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands that appear to be military installations, from which its personnel routinely instruct foreign vessels to leave.

Duterte has a policy of engagement with Beijing, in the hope of securing billions of dollars in grants, loans and investments, and has rejected criticism that he is acquiescing to Chinese pressure or surrendering Philippines sovereignty.

However, instead of blaming China for building and militarizing islands in disputed waters, he has said the United States was at fault for not blocking the construction when it started.

China has been angered by the United States in particular sending military ships and aircraft close to Chinese-occupied islands in the South China Sea in the name of freedom of navigation, saying the operations are highly provocative and potentially dangerous.

Diplomatic strategy President Duterte has instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to talk to its counterparts in China and discuss a better way of communicating to ships and planes sailing through or flying over the South China Sea.

“The President still gave us instructions (to) continue the diplomacy and tell them there should be a better way for us staking our claims and talking to each other,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters Wednesday night, hours after meeting with the President.

Cayetano disclosed that he, together with Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana and National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon Jr., met with the President to explain that the Chinese radio messaging to those who sail or fly over the South China Sea is “routine.”

“I was with the Defense Secretary and the NSA Secretary then we went to the President this afternoon and we told him, ‘Sir, this is routine.’ We continue to tell anyone that goes into our waters and flight over that you are in Philippine territory. And they continue to tell us,” he said.

“Regardless (if) it’s routine, regardless of good intentions, whatever. That’s not how friends treat each other,” Cayetano quoted the President as saying.

“He’s confident we can work this out,” Cayetano said.

He further said that from the military to military point of view, the Chinese radio messaging is more sensitive to the civilian population because “you’re not used to it.”

“But for them (military) it’s a routine,” the secretary said.

On Tuesday, the President made a rare critical statement to Beijing calling it to respect the right of innocent passage for vessels passing in areas beyond national airspace.

"You cannot create an island and you say that the air above the artificial island is your own. That is wrong. The right to innocent passage is guaranteed," Duterte said.

The President asserted that ships do not need any permission to sail through the open seas.

Cayetano is set to meet with his counterparts in Beijing next month to negotiate a framework agreement that would allow a joint exploration of natural resources to proceed in the West Philippine Sea. (With a report from Roy C. Mabasa)