The Chinese Embassy on Monday again urged the Philippines to meet China halfway over the maritime dispute through diplomatic dialogues but insisted that the country tow away the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal, which is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong made the statement more than a week after the Chinese Coast Guard used water cannons against Philippine vessels trying to resupply Filipino soldiers on Ayungin Shoal.
In a forum, Zhou insisted that Ayungin Shoal, which he called Ren’ai Reef, is part of China’s Nansha Islands.
The embassy official said that China and the Philippines are neighbors that “can’t move away from one another,” thus disputes between both countries should be managed through dialogue and consultations.
“China has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resolve differences with the Philippines through bilateral dialogues. We hope that the Philippines side will abide by the existing consensus and cherish the hard-won situation in our bilateral relations. Meet the Chinese side halfway and find an effective way of managing the situation on the sea through diplomatic consultations,” Zhou said.
The Chinese embassy official also said that China has lodged “solemn representations immediately requesting the Philippine side to tow away the vessel,” referring to the BRP Sierra Madre. He insisted that the Philippines agreed to remove the ship that has been grounded in Ayungin Shoal since 1999.
“The Philippine side also made explicit commitments to do so. The representations were put on record and well documented,” Zhou said.
“It’s been 24 years and the Philippines side has yet to honor its commitment. The Chinese side, however, has always exerted the utmost restraint, with a view to maintaining the relations with the Philippines and safeguarding regional peace and stability,” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week denied that the Philippines had promised China to remove BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal and said if such an agreement existed he would rescind it.
Zhou also said the Philippines and China in 2021 conducted discussions to manage the dispute over Ayungin Shoal, reaching a consensus for the conduct of the resupply mission on the BRP Sierra Madre.
But beginning early this year, he noted, the Philippine government “refused to acknowledge and implement the existing consensus and started to take a series of unilateral actions.”
Zhou said that China also sent a draft proposal to the Philippine side to address the matter, but it has yet to receive a formal response from Manila.
“To prevent any incidents from occurring, the Chinese side has lodged representations both in Beijing and Manila to the Philippine side, requesting the Philippines to return to the track of honoring the existing consensus and refrain from taking unilateral actions before any new understanding is reached between us,” he said.
“Regrettably, in defiance of the repeated situation and warning from the Chinese side, the Philippine side insisted on transporting construction materials to the grounded vessel for overhaul and reinforcement with the intent of permanently occupying Ren’ai Reef. The above is the cause of this incident,” he said.
He was referring to how China Coast Guard did use water cannons and tried to block resupply vessels from reaching Ayungin Shoal on Aug.5.
Its actions have been widely condemned by the international community.
According to the embassy official, China has made “temporary and special arrangements” for 24 years for the Philippine vessels to conduct resupply missions for troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre by only bringing food and other daily necessities “out of humanitarian consideration.”
“Meanwhile, the Chinese side has also made it clear that we are firmly against transportation of large-scale construction materials to the grounded warship with the purpose of permanent occupation through reinforcements,” he added.
The grounding of the BRP Sierra Madre was done in part to counteract China’s illegal seizure of Mischief Reef, which the Philippines also claims.
The Philippines says both Ayungin Shoal and Mischief Reef are within its exclusive economic zone.
A note verbale was sent to China following the August 5 incident in Ayungin Shoal.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, meanwhile, scoffed at Beijing’s latest offer of a dialogue to settle their maritime row, calling this a mere “obfuscatory” tactic to blot out its water cannon attack on Philippine vessels en route to Ayungin Shoal.
Villafuerte also backed a proposal that the next resupply mission be undertaken during planned joint patrols with the United States and other allies that want to preserve freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea.
Villafuerte made the statement after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi over the weekend called for calm and urged Manila to engage Beijing in new discussions to defuse tensions following the Ayungin incident.
The official news agency Xinhua quoted Wang as saying while on a tour of Malaysia and Singapore that the Philippines must work with China on “seek(ing) an effective way to defuse tensions in the South China Sea.”
Xinhua reported that Beijing has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resolve its differences with Manila, in the hope that the Philippines would abide by a consensus reached in the past.
Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party, is optimistic that “our foreign affairs and military officials know that their Chinese counterparts have long been speaking with forked tongues when it comes to WPS concerns, and will certainly not fall for this trap of getting back to the negotiating table.”
Meanwhile, the Philippines-Australia (PH-Aus) Military Exercise “Alon 2023” officially kicked off on Aug. 14.
AFP Public Affairs Office (AFP-PAO) chief Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto said in a statement that the maneuvers began on the flight deck of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra.
Ileto said the maneuvers, also known as “Exercise Alon 2023” are part of the Indo-Pacific Endeavors activities for this year and the first bilateral amphibious exercise between Australia and the Philippines.