China blames PH for incident

CHINA yesterday accused the Philippines of “deliberate provocations” over an incident in disputed waters in the South China Sea last month that drew a protest from Manila about what it called Chinese ships’ use of water cannon on Filipino fishermen.

The Philippines lodged a protest with China on Tuesday over the issue, saying the Chinese were trying to keep the fishermen from fishing waters around Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

China’s foreign ministry, which has already rejected the complaint, said its boats had every right to respond to “provocative” acts in its territory.

China suspected the aims and identities of several Philippine fishing boats that recently appeared in the waters around the shoal, as some of them appeared to just “hang around,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

The Philippine boats ignored calls from the Chinese ships to leave, with some aboard even adopting a “provocative posture of appearing to spoil for a fight” in activities showing “a strong level of organization and confrontation,” Hua said.

“In the face of this seriously provocative behavior, China maintained utmost restraint, and as multiple warnings failed, could not but take the minimum measures to carry out expulsions, which caused no harm to the Philippine fishing boats or personnel,” she told a daily news briefing.

But Malacañang said yesterday that the Jan. 27 water cannon attack would bolster the Philippines’ arbitration case in the United Nations.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also told reporters that there was “nothing new” in the Chinese Embassy statement issued Tuesday rejecting the Philippine protest over the incident.

“We have a deadline. We are ready to meet that deadline, and [anything that will] bolster the government’s case, of course, will be contained in the memorial,” she said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista first spoke about the water cannon attack in a talk with The Associated Press on Friday, but the story drew wider press attention when he repeated it at a foreign correspondents’ forum onMonday.

Bautista said Chinese Coast Guard vessels fired water cannon at Filipino fishermen at Panatag Shoal on Jan. 27 to drive them away from the disputed fishing ground in theWest Philippine Sea.

China claims 90 percent of the 3.5-million-sq-km South China Sea, including waters within its neighbors’ economic exclusion zones.