Malacañang reiterated that President Rodrigo Duterte will always protect the Philippine territory and will uphold national interest following reports of a Chinese ship observing the country’s military exercise.
Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) described the action of the China ship as violating national sovereignty.
He said the DFA had already taken diplomatic action.
“The President, while engaging in diplomacy in dealing with China, will always protect our territory and uphold our national interest,” Andanar said.
An “electronic reconnaissance ship” of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) had entered Philippine waters without permission from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, the DFA said.
The Chinese vessel claimed it was exercising its right to innocent passage and ignored the demands of the Philippine Navy’s BRP Antonio Luna to leave the area immediately.
The DFA summoned Chinese ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian over the incident.
The Philippines and China are among several nations locked in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, part of which is being claimed by the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea.
Duterte earlier said Manila and Beijing “do not have any quarrel” despite fresh incursions in the West Philippine Sea.
“The Philippines and China, we do not have any quarrel,” Duterte told Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian during the inauguration of the China-funded Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila.
“We can talk about the Spratly Islands and probably the fishing rights of my countrymen. Plain talk, nothing else,” the President added.
The Philippine Coast Guard last month accused its Chinese counterpart of steering one of its ships within meters of a Filipino patrol boat near the Scarborough Shoal.
On Tuesday, Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana also disclosed that a Chinese navy vessel was observing the conduct of war games between Filipino and American soldiers in Philippine waters earlier this year.
“What this vessel did was monitor our military exercise with the US navy. It conducted surveillance,” Lorenzana said, adding that this prompted Manila to file a diplomatic protest against Beijing.