THE US and Philippines have expressed concern over China’s decision to mass militia vessels in the South China Sea, as a Filipino civilian ship carrying local journalists reported being chased down by armed Chinese navy vessels while sailing within the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Thursday.
Local broadcaster ABS-CBN claimed the People’s Liberation Army Navy deployed two vessels carrying missiles to drive away the ship as it traveled across reefs and shoals close to the western island province of Palawan. The report added it was the first recorded instance of a military maneuver against a civilian boat.
After being spotted by a coast guard vessel, their ship was radioed and then pursued for an hour, “getting so close that bow number 5101 was visible to the naked eye, sometimes sailing beside the Filipino vessel on either side,” according to the report. It then turned away, only for two Houbei-class missile boats to show up moments later.
During a phone call on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. discussed concerns about the build-up of China’s maritime militia in the disputed waters, including Whitsun Reef, or Julian Felipe Reef, according to a US readout.
They reiterated calls for China to abide by the 2016 arbitration ruling issued pursuant to the Law of the Sea Convention.
A separate statement sent by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to media outlets said Locsin and Blinken affirmed, “The importance of working closely to enhance the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States that has stood strong for nearly 70 years, in light of the recent geopolitical developments and challenges in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.”
The growing tension comes as Chinese vessels—initially numbering in the hundreds—were spotted at Julian Felipe Reef on March 7, prompting protests from Manila. The DFA said it would file a diplomatic protest for each day that the Chinese vessels remain in the reef, within the Philippine EEZ.
The US last month said it stands by the Philippines while accusing China of using a “maritime militia to intimidate, provoke and threaten other nations.” China said last month that the ships were simply “taking shelter from the wind” and the Philippines should view the situation in a “rational light.”
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana slammed the “shelter” excuse, saying he was “no fool” because there were no reports of weather disturbance, and demanded that all Chinese boats leave.
The defense and military establishment also expressed concern on Friday over the latest incident. “We are concerned for the safety of anyone—unarmed civilians—at sea. As such, we view the report with concern,” said the Department of National Defense (DND) through its spokesman Arsenio “Popong” Andolong.
The news team was reportedly sailing toward the Ayungin Shoal to check on Filipino fishermen in the area when a Chinese vessel appeared and blocked their ship’s course although from a distance.
Andolong said the DND has already directed the military, through its Western Command, to “investigate, gather, and validate all the relevant facts on the incident, the outcome of which will be used to coordinate any appropriate action” through the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and the Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, through its spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, said it was looking into the incident even as he counseled caution to journalists in doing their job.
“Through the AFP’s Western Command, we are conducting investigation and verifications to establish what transpired,” Arevalo said. “While we understand the journalists’ insatiable desire to be ahead in reporting, we appeal to them to exercise prudence in the course of their job,” he added.
News crew harassment slammed
Also on Friday, Minority Senator Risa Hontiveros strongly protested the latest incident involving a Chinese missile vessel harassing a Filipino boat chartered by an ABS-CBN news crew doing a documentary in the West Philippine Sea.
“I am outraged,” Hontiveros fumed, indicating she was beginning to “lose what little respect left’ she still has for the Chinese government.”
In a news statement, she said the most recent form of harassment “only proves that China knows she can never win diplomatically or legally in our territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, hence, she is desperately resorting to the threat of using deadly force.”
Hontiveros cited reports that the ABS-CBN crew joined Filipino fishermen on their way to their traditional fishing ground in Ayungin Shoal when they were blocked by the Chinese navy ship, accompanied by two “Type 22 Houbei missile boat, a ship class in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.”
In her statement sent to Senate reporters, Hontiveros recalled that ABS-CBN’s Chiara Zambrano checked their boat’s location, and they were only 90 nautical miles from Palawan.
“That is almost just as far as going to Cavite from Tarlac. Clearly, they were within our exclusive economic zone, and yet, China’s war vessels brazenly charged in their direction. Iyan ba ang magpapark lang ng barko kasi masama ang panahon? [Is that what you call just parking one’s boats to shelter from bad weather?], she asked.
The lawmaker lamented that “we are being encircled in our own territory,” asking that China pull back its navy and coast guard ships “outside the Philippines’s EEZ to avert an untoward incident.
Hontiveros, a widow of a Philippine Military Academy graduate, also echoed the recent statement of the PMA Alumni Association and the PMA Retirees Association that “strongly condemned China’s illegal intrusion in our EEZ and insists that China should comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as both countries are party to this convention.
She added: “Indeed, no productive negotiation would be possible if China does not adhere to international law and if she continues to use lies and deceit to impose her will upon the region.”
Image credits: Philippine Coast Guard via AP
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