CHINA HAS occupied the Julian Felipe Reef, just 175 nautical miles west of Palawan’s Bataraza town, and part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
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| President Rodrigo Duterte with China's Xi Jinping. |
Beijing now insisted the reef is part of China’s Nansha Islands and has deployed over 200 militia ships in the area disguised as fishing boats. China has previously occupied Filipino territories in the West Philippine Sea, but President Rodrigo Duterte only ignored this and said Manila cannot fight with Beijing.
Duterte’s pro-China stance has been widely criticized by many Filipinos.
Now, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Chinese claim is without factual or legal basis. Just like Duterte, Lorenzana also failed to stop Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea and did not act to prevent China from occupying Filipino territories and eventually built military structures on the islands and islets in the area.
Lorenzana demanded that China recall its militia vessels from Julian Felipe Reef, but Beijing remains defiant and even warned Philippine Coast Guard and other ships to stay away.
“The utter disregard by the Chinese Embassy in Manila of international law, especially the UNCLOS to which China is a party is appalling. Its nine-dash line claim is without any factual or legal basis. This, together with its so-called historical claim, was flatly and categorically rejected by the arbitral tribunal. The Philippines’ claims stand on solid grounds while China’s do not,” Lorenzana said, referring to the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea.
“China should respect Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Islands, and its sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone as defined by UNCLOS and affirmed by the arbitral award. The continued presence of Chinese maritime militias in the area reveals their intent to further occupy features in the West Philippine Sea. They have done this before at Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc and at Panganiban Reef brazenly violating Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights under international law,” he added.
Lorenzana said China should refrain from conducting activities that disturb regional and international peace and security.
China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said Manila harbored ulterior motives and hostile intentions when it called the Chinese ships maritime militia, and reiterated that Chinese fishermen had enjoyed the right to fish and seek shelter in the area for thousands of years. “I don’t understand why some relevant party calls the Chinese fishermen maritime militia. This saying reflects ulterior motives and hostile intentions,” the South China Morning Post quoted Zhao as saying.
“The South China Sea arbitral ruling is illegal and ineffective. The Chinese side does not accept or recognise the ruling, and oppose…the Philippine side using the illegal ruling to deny the thousand years of fishing rights of the Chinese fishermen in the area,” he added, after the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it would protest daily until China withdrew all its vessels. It also cited Manila’s 2016 victory at an international tribunal which rejected China’s claim of historic rights over much of the South China Sea.
“For every day of delay, the Republic of the Philippines will lodge a diplomatic protest,” DFA said.
Duterte’s Spokesman Harry Roque said the president is confident the issue on the Julian Felipe Reef will not affect the bilateral ties between China and the Philippines. “We will continue to resolve the issues on Julian Felipe through diplomatic channels and peaceful means,” Roque said.
“Whatever differences we have with China will not define our bilateral relations and it will not be an obstacle to the overall positive trajectory of our bilateral friendly relations and our deepening cooperation in the pandemic response, including vaccine cooperation and in post-pandemic economic recovery,” he added.
Chinese State Counselor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also met recently with DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin in Nanping City of Fujian and discussed regional cooperation with both sides committed to promote effective implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. (Mindanao Examiner)
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