Both sides demand a stop to ‘dangerous, provocative’ moves in WPS
The Philippines and China on Friday called for restraint in the actions of their respective Coast Guard ships in the West Philippines, demanding a stop to what their envoys called “dangerous” and “provocative” actions that would endanger the “good relations” between their countries.
“We are calling on China to desist and restrain from this action because this is not just damaging, dangerous… it is also destabilizing in terms of stability and peace in the region,” Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said in a public briefing.
China’s ambassador to the Philippines, meanwhile, said both sides should refrain from taking any provocative action in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, two weeks after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) accused its Chinese counterpart of aiming a military-grade laser at its ship near Ayungin Shoal.
“I think that first of all both sides should exercise restraint and refrain from taking any unilateral and provocative action. At the end of the day, that water is a disputed area,” said Chinese envoy Huang Xilian at a press conference Friday.
Huang held a news conference hours after the DFA, through Daza, accused China of destabilizing peace and security in the West Philippine Sea after the Feb. 6 laser-pointing incident.
The agency also stands by the report of the Philippine Coast Guard, Daza said.
Huang said he was “saddened to hear” that the crew of the PCG ship BRPMalapascua has suffered temporary blindness, but repeated the Chinese position that they did not use military grade lasers but only lasers to help with navigation.
In a televised public briefing, the DFA spokesperson called on Beijingto exercise restraint, even as she noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already expressed serious concern over the laser-pointing incident.
“No less than the President has called attention and expressed seriousconcern about the increasing frequency and intensity of actions that are happening in the West Philippine Sea,” Daza said.
Despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines, China insists it has sovereignty over the waters around Ayungin Shoal, where the BRP Malapascua was en route to resupply Filipino marines in the area.
Daza’s statement came after the Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China over the laser-pointing incident on Feb. 6.
Earlier, Mr. Marcos summoned Huang to the Palace, but details of their meeting were not made public.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier accused the PCG ship BRPMalapascua of intruding into Chinese waters but denied that its coast guard pointed military-grade lasers at the crew of the Philippine ship.
Daza stressed there was no reason to doubt the PCG’s account of the incident.
Some countries, including the United States, Japan, and Australia, have raised serious concerns over the laser-pointing issue.
Daza said a total of nine diplomatic protests were already lodged by the DFA against China this year. She added that in 2022, almost 195 protests were filed.
“Under the administration of our President, there are about 76 that have already been issued,” she said.
Meanwhile, the PCG announced that it has strengthened and increased its presence and operations in the West Philippine Sea as the President ordered.
In a statement, the PCG said Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu deployed “one of the PCG Fleet’s largest maritime assets,” the BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) to the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) on Jan. 28.
The DFA said that for the first time, China and the Philippines made use of the newly established communication mechanism to tackle the recent laser beaming incident.
Daza said China had called the Philippines on Feb. 14 to talk about the “urgent issue.”
“They called using the direct mechanism and as expected, they narrated their position. We, on the other hand, also narrated what happened andhow we considered the incident as aggressive, and also as threatening.
So, we hope that this does not actually continue,” Daza said.
The establishment of a communication mechanism was an outcome of themeeting of President Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping in January in China.
Both leaders agreed to establish a direct line from their respective Foreign Affairs departments intended to be used for urgent maritime issues and concerns.
During the call, China expressed its intention to engage with thePhilippines regarding the latest Ayungin Shoal incident, to which the latter agreed.
“We are open to engagement in different levels at (and) differentforums. And that applies to all. We want to be friends, but this should not, in any way, sacrifice the national interest of the country,” Daza said.