Kalayaan mayor downplays China’s move to occupy Ayungin Shoal
The local government of Kalayaan Island dismissed yesterday China’s bid to occupy Ayungin Shoal, calling Beijing’s move as excessive.
Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon said that Ayungin Shoal is well within the country’s territorial waters.
“If they occupy Ayungin, they are courting trouble. We are not worried at all. China should not only deal with us but with Vietnam, Taiwan and even Malaysia,” Bito-onon said.
In the case of Vietnam, most of its military outposts are located near those of China, while Taiwan has a modern military facility at Itu Aba, the biggest island that used to be the base of the Japanese Imperial Army and their Air Force during World War II.
Bito-onon said China could not aord to do illegal activities in the region because the world is closely watching their moves.
“China risks world condemnation if it will continue to assert aggressively its excessive maritime claim in the region,” the mayor said.
Chinese warships and surveillance vessels have been monitored to have taken position near Ayungin Shoal now being guarded by Filipino troops on a commissioned Philippine Navy logistic ship BRP Sierra Madre.
A Chinese general was quoted by China Daily News as saying that the deployment of Chinese warships and maritime surveillance ships near Ayungin was aimed at forcing Filipino troops stationed in the area to leave.
But Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Navy chief Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano said the routine troop rotation and re-provisioning operations in Ayungin would continue.
Last week, Chinese frigates monitored near Ayungin disappeared after the United States Navy USS Nimitz conducted a naval drill at the West Philippine Sea.