DFA summons Chinese envoy over WPS
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said it has summoned the envoy of China over the “illegal lingering” presence of Chinese maritime vessels in Julian Felipe Reef, part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
DFA Acting Undersecretary Elizabeth Buensuceso summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian for the first time on 12 April — more than a month after around 200 Chinese ships were spotted in the reef on 7 March.
During the meeting, Buensuceso reiterated the firm demand of the Philippines for China to withdraw its fleet in the territory saying that its continued presence is a “source of regional tension.”
The DFA official likewise stressed the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration Award which invalidates China’s expansive 9-dash line claims in the contested waters.
“The DFA summoned Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian on 12 April 2021. The DFA expressed displeasure over the illegal lingering presence of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef,” the agency said in a statement.
“The DFA reiterated the firm demand of the Philippines that China ensures the immediate departure of all its vessels from the area of Julian Felipe Reef and other maritime zones of the Philippines,” it added.
Both sides affirmed the use of peaceful settlement of disputes in addressing their differences on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue.
The Julian Felipe Reef, known internationally as Whitsun Reef, is one of the reefs outlining Pagkakaisa Banks, an oval-shaped submerged atoll located within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone in the WPS.
As of 11 April, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said at least 28 Chinese vessels are still at the reef. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, meanwhile, tweeted that there are only nine ships remaining.
The presence of the fleet — identified by the AFP as maritime militia — prompted Locsin to lodge daily diplomatic protests against China. The first objection was lodged on 21 March.
Risa criticizes China anew
Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, criticized China for its recent intrusions in the Philippine waters.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, the senator said the latest maritime incidents in the EEZ including the presence of ships in the Julian Felipe Reef and the alleged harassment of Chinese navy to a civilian boat ferrying a television crew near Palawan, made it clear that the freedom of navigating for Filipinos on their own territory has been “severely impaired.”
“2021 was supposed to be a year of recovery; an opportunity to rebuild after the personal and economic traumas caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, the country confronts a Chinese government seemingly intent on undermining Philippine sovereignty in the WPS at every turn,” she said.
“I am outraged and indignant at the deliberate, reckless and unlawful campaign of the Chinese government to use its military and economic might to deprive the Filipino people of the full use of the waters comprising the country’s EEZ,” she added.
Hontiveros said that these developments suggest that the Philippines need to rethink its allies and be consistent in fighting off for the country’s national interest.
She also reiterated that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations must come together and have a mutual position on how to proactively engage China and make it behave based on a rules-based order.
“We must be consistent and firm in standing up for our national interests. We should hold China accountable for the damage she has done to fragile marine ecosystems within our EEZ. We should ensure that our environmental laws, and not China’s, are the laws being implemented and enforced in the WPS,” she said.
“Above and beyond considerations of access to resources, diplomacy, and geopolitics, our national dignity is at stake. We, Filipinos, must not bend the knee to yet another imperial master. We must not cower in fear and submission. We must uphold the strength and courage of our nation,” she added.
Sovereignty patrols
Meanwhile, the government has increased the number of ships in the WPS, amid Chinese vessels’ continuing presence inside the country’s exclusive economic zone.
At least seven ships are conducting “sovereignty” patrols and other law enforcement activities in Julian Felipe Reef, a cay near Pag-asa Island, Recto Bank, and other parts of the Kalayaan Island Group, according to the Area Task Force-West (ATF-West).
The ATF-West is an arm of the inter-agency National Task Force for the WPS covering waters and territories off Palawan, down to parts of the Sulu Sea.
Among those deployed is the Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Cabra, one of 10 patrol ships ordered and received from Japan a few years ago; and two ships of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, it said.
The Navy’s BRP Dagupan City, BRP Apolinario Mabini, BRP Magat Salamat,
BRP Miguel Malvar