MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will file another diplomatic protest against China over its hostile maneuvers against Philippine fisheries and Coast Guard vessels near two disputed features in the West Philippine Sea yesterday, with Chinese warships joining for the first time in blocking and shadowing Philippine ships.
"[We] will be submitting our protest," Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said in a chance interview on Thursday, December 5.
The Philippines on Wednesday, December 4, accused Chinese vessels of ramming and using water cannons against a civilian vessel it deployed to Scarborough Shoal that morning to "support Filipino fishermen actively engaged in fishing in the area."
The Philippines also accused People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels of blocking, shadowing and carrying out "dangerous maneuvers" against two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels in the vicinity.
The PCG vessel BRP Cabra was shadowed by CCG vessel 3104, while PCG's flagship vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was tailed by a PLA Navy warship at an unprecedented close distance of 300 yards, according to a statement.
On the same day at Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, Chinese Coast Guard vessel 21549 sideswiped the fisheries vessel BRP Datu Bankaw twice and later intentionally rammed another fisheries vessel, BRP Datu Romapenet, causing significant damage. These incidents occurred as the Philippine vessels were responding to distress calls from Filipino fishers being blocked from entering the area.
Both shoals — Scarborough and Escoda — are within the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
While a 2016 ruling had invalidated China's sweeping nine-dash line claim to the South China Sea, Beijing has never recognized this decision and has instead expanded its presence and conducted island-building activities in the disputed waters.
"It's very clear - we were within our legal rights," Manalo said. "Certainly, we don't understand why China again is repeating these actions which are clearly illegal."
China, through its foreign ministry spokesperson, said it "did what was necessary" to protect its sovereignty and maritime rights "in accordance with the law." It accused the Philippine vessels of "intruding" into China's territorial sea and justified its actions as being "lawful, professional and restrained."
Chinese warships' presenceJonathan Malaya, spokesperson of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, considers the latest incidents to be a "steep escalation" and a clear sign of provocation from Beijing due to the presence of PLAN vessels, which are Chinese military warships.
"In the past PLAN ships were in the area, but they were just in the horizon. They would not do dangerous maneuvers against our Philippine vessels," Malaya said in an interview with ANC on Thursday. "But in this case the BRP Teresa Magbanua faced blocking and shadowing and dangerous maneuvers from a People's Liberation Army Navy warship, and as mentioned by Commodore Jay Tariela in the press conference yesterday, at a close distance of 300 yards," Malaya added.
Malaya said the Philippines now "reserves the right" to also send Navy ships to the tense waterways amid China's deployment of its own warships.
"We hope that the People's Republic of China does not see our diplomatic actions or our peaceful actions as cowardice," the task force spokesperson said.
"We do not want to be sending signals to China that they can do what they want simply because we do not want to escalate," Malaya added. "It is they that first deployed the PLAN ship."
This latest flareup of tensions comes less than a month after the Philippines condemned China's publication of its self-drawn baselines around Scarborough Shoal, which it claims to have sovereignty over.
China's attempt to map its claims to the disputed shoal came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s signed two new maritime laws that asserted the country's sovereignty over its waters.bigjackpot88
