CHINA REBUFFS DU30, INSISTS ON SEA RIGHTS
BEIJING— China rebuffed the call of Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte for Beijing to rethink its conduct in the South China Sea on Thursday, saying Beijing had the right to react to foreign ships or aircraft that get close to its islands.
Mr. Duterte, in a rare criticism of China, said on Tuesday that Beijing had no right to repel foreign aircraft and boats passing by artificial islands it had built in the Spratly archipelago, and that he hoped China would “temper” its behavior and stop restricting movements.
In a statement sent to Reuters, China’s foreign ministry said the Spratly Islands were China’s inherent territory and that China respected the right to freedom of navigation and overflight that all countries enjoyed in the South China Sea under international law.
“But China has a right to take necessary steps to respond to foreign aircraft and ships that deliberately get close to or make incursions into the air and waters near China’s relevant islands, and provocative actions that threaten the security of Chinese personnel stationed there,” it said.
China’s ambition and intent
“China urges the relevant party to meet China halfway, and jointly protect the present good situation that has not come easily in the South China Sea,” the ministry added, without elaborating.
Malacañang declined to comment on China’s statement.
US Assistant Secretary of Defense Randall Schriver said China’s challenging aircraft and vessels in the South China Sea showed it was far from supportive of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Speaking to reporters at the US Embassy in Manila on Thursday, Schriver said the radio warnings to airplanes and ships showed China’s “ultimate ambitions and intent.”
Schriver said the warnings came in a “growing pattern” but stressed, “We’ll fly, sail and operate where international law allows.”
The Chinese, he said, need to understand that the warnings will not result in a change in US behavior.
“We’ll not allow them to rewrite the rules of the road or change international law,” Schriver said.
Military installations
China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have competing claims to the Spratly archipelago, where China, which claims nearly the entire South China Sea, has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands that appear to be military installations, from which its personnel routinely instruct foreign vessels to leave.
Beijing has defied a 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated its sweeping claim in the South China Sea and recognized Manila’s sovereign rights to fish and explore for resources in waters within its exclusive economic zone in the strategic waterway.
Mr. Duterte has a policy of engagement with Beijing, in the hope of securing billions of dollars in grants, loans and investments, and has rejected criticism that he is acquiescing to Chinese pressure or surrendering Philippine sovereignty.
But instead of blaming China for building and militarizing islands in disputed waters, he has said the United States was at fault for not blocking the construction when it started.
China has been angered by the United States in particular sending military ships and aircraft close to Chinese-occupied islands in the South China Sea in the name of freedom of navigation, saying the operations are highly provocative and potentially dangerous.
Schriver said the US patrols in the South China Sea were intended to maintain a free and open Pacific region where “international waters exist as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
“If there are threats, challenges to that I think not only the United States but many in the international community would respond in a way to keep international waters international waters,” he said.