PH files protest vs Chinese incursions
MANILA – The Philippine government has protested the latest Chinese incursions in Ayungin Shoal in the disputed West Philippine Sea and asked Beijing to respect Manila’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its continental shelf, including waters around the shoal.
Raul Hernandez, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman, said on Tuesday that the protest was filed against China on May 10.
The note verbale was received by the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
“We filed with the Chinese Embassy in Manila our protest on the provocative and illegal presence of Chinese government ships around Ayungin Shoal... an integral part of our national territory,” Hernandez said.
The Chinese vessels sighted were two Chinese maritime surveillance ships and one warship, the official added.
Ayungin Shoal is located 105 nautical miles from Palawan province and “constitutes part of our 200 nautical miles Philippine continental shelf as provided under [the] Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea].”
“China’s interference with the sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the West Philippine Sea is a violation of international law, particularly Unclos, the UN [United Nations] charter and the DOC [Declaration on the Code of Conduct],” Hernandez said.
The DOC is a signed nonbinding agreement between China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including the Philippines, to reduce political tensions and supervise the conduct of claimant-countries in the resource-rich region.
It is also the basis for the more binding Code of Conduct (COC) that has yet to be agreed upon by the claim- ant-countries the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. But like the DOC, the COC is not a dispute settlement mechanism. The Philippine Navy said earlier that a Chinese navy ship was seen escorting a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels in the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal.
Last week, the mayor of Kalayaan municipality in Palawan also alleged that Filipino fishermen sighted two foreign vessels in the disputed waters. The ships were flying with Chinese flags, allowing the Philippine Navy to identify them from a distance.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin asked the Foreign Affairs department to file the protest through the proper channels.
This was not the first time Chinese intruded into Philippine territories.
From April to June last year, a naval standoff occurred between the two countries after Beijing placed several of its ships in the Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal. At present, China has effective control of the shoal since Philippine vessels have been withdrawn from there in June last year.
Manila and Beijing are locked in an intensifying territorial dispute over the waters and islands of the West Philippine Sea, which are believed to be rich in oil and mineral deposits. China was further angered when the Philippine brought the dispute before the UN-backed International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (Itlos) on January 19.
The tribunal will hear the case filed by Manila, which is pushing for the invalidation of China’s encompassing ninedash line, which covers the whole region. China refused to join the arbitration proceedings, preferring instead to negotiate bilaterally. (CVB/ Sunnex)