FOR the first time since he arrived in Manila on December 3, 2019, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian was summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday, April 12, “to explain the illegal lingering presence of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef.”
DFA Acting Undersecretary Elizabeth P. Buensuceso reminded Huang that Julian Felipe Reef lies within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines.
“The continuing presence of Chinese vessels around the reef is a source of regional tension,” the DFA said in a statement. More than 200 of what are believed to be maritime militia vessels were spotted, lashed together, on March 7. Some of them later left, but were spotted redeployed in nearby areas.
Buensuceso stressed to Huang that the July 12, 2016 award in the South China Sea arbitration ruled that claims to historic rights, or sovereign rights or jurisdiction that exceed geographic and substantive limits of maritime entitlement under Unclos, “are without lawful effect.”
The DFA said both sides affirmed the use of peaceful settlement of disputes in addressing their differences on the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea issues.
The DFA reiterated the Philippines’s firm demand that China ensure the immediate departure of all its vessels from the area of Julian Felipe Reef and other maritime zones of the Philippines.
Referring to the untoward statements of the Chinese embassy spokesman against Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana when the latter demanded the immediate departure of the Chinese militia boats from Julian Felipe Reef and nearby areas in the WPS, the “Chinese side was reminded of proper decorum and manners in the conduct of their duties as guest of the Philippines,” a DFA statement said.
Both sides agreed to lower the tensions and handle the issue diplomatically, it added.
Ambassador Huang is a career diplomat with 30 years of experience and with expertise in Asia and Southeast Asia.
The last time a Chinese ambassador was summoned to the DFA was in 2019, when the fishing vessel GemVer was sunk by a Chinese vessel, with the Filipino fishermen left at sea. They were rescued by a passing Vietnamese vessel. DFA summoned CDA Tan Qingsheng on June 14, 2019.
On Wednesday, reporting on Twitter about the status of the Chinese militia vessels’ swarming presence on Julian Felipe Reef, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., said he had just been informed by the National Task Force on West Philippine Sea that “only 9 ships left.”
However, Locsin—who had earlier vowed to file diplomatic protests for each day the boats do not leave—added, “We have yet to see complete removal of ships.”
Meanwhile, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario expressed his full support in summoning Ambassador Huang over the “illegal lingering presence of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef.”
Image credits: National Task Force-West Philippine Sea via AP
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