DFA will still recognize insulting Chinese passport
THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said that it will still recognize the Chinese ePassport, even as it protested its issuance because of the inclusion of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) territorial claims in the China map printed in the inside pages.
“Visa processing for Chinese ePassport continues its normal course,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a text message.
The Foreign Affairs department on Wednesday protested that the printing of the map, which showed China’s nine-dash line claims inside the new ePassport. Vietnam and Taiwan on Friday also protested the inclusion of their territorial claims in Chinese territory.
The note verbale was received by the Chinese Embassy in Manila and will be forwarded to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.
An official of the Chinese embassy who refused to be identified said that Beijing will respond accordingly to the note verbale. But when asked when the response will be sent and what it will contain, the official said that the embassy is still waiting for clearance from the ministry.
“We will respond to [explain] China’s side,” the official said, adding that the ninedash line, which shows the scope of China’s
claims in the region, has been in existence since 1947.
“It was the Koumintang government that established the nine-dash line,” the official said.
Koumintang was the leading political party in mainland China before the Communist Party of China was established by Chairman Mao Zedong. Koumintang now governs the island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers as part of its territory.
The official also said that the map with the nine- dash line is merely used as new designs for the Chinese ePassports that were recently launched.
The nine-dash line, which can be seen in ancient Chinese maps, covers the entire West Philippine Sea and stretches as far as some portions of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and even Indonesia— a nonclaimant country.
The West Philippine Sea, with its potentially resource-rich islands of Kalayaan (Spratly), Pratas, Paracel and Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, is being claimed in whole by China and in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
ePassports should be barred
Meanwhile, Rep. Walden Bello of Akbayan party-list, chairman of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, on Friday urged the Philippine government to bar the entry of Chinese with ePassports.
Bello said that the passports are only valid if sovereign nations are willing to recognize it and that China’s latest move was an affront to Filipinos, who indiscriminately welcome Chinese tourists.
“The best way to send the message across that the government does not tolerate China’s belligerence and irrationality is by refusing to recognize the validity of the newly issued Chinese ePassports. President [Benigno] Aquino [3rd] must exercise the sovereign right, the power, to refuse to recognize these travel documents,” Bello said in a statement.
He also said that the President should immediately order the DFA, Department of Justice, the Bureau of Immigration and relevant agencies to prohibit the granting of visas to people with ePassports.
“The only way that Chinese authorities would take the Philippine government seriously is by sending a strong statement such as the refusal to honor the new ePassport,” Bello added. “Our message should be loud and clear: the Chinese government may have the sovereign right to decorate their passports in any way they wish, but so long as they refuse to respect our sovereignty, then we will use the power to refuse to honor their passports.”