Supply boats sail anew to Ayungin Shoal
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and VICTOR REYES
PRESIDENT Duterte yesterday denounced the recent action of the Chinese Coast Guard against Philippine vessels on a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea, which he said “does not speak well of the relations between our nations.”
The President, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China special summit, said the South China Sea dispute is a “strategic challenge that cannot be solved by force.”
This developed as two military-chartered boats blocked by the Chinese last week left for Palawan yesterday to resume the delivery of supplies to Filipino troops stationed at the Ayungin Shoal. The regular resupply mission was aborted after two Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked the boats as they were approaching the shoal on Tuesday last week. A third Chinese vessel fired water cannons, forcing the supply boats to abort their mission and return to Palawan.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the chartered boats are expected to reach Ayungin today. He also said Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian has told him the supply boats will not be prevented from going to Ayungin Shoal, about 174 nautical miles from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, and 600 nautical miles from China’s Hainan province.
“The Chinese Ambassador (Huang Xilian) assured me they will not be impeded. Pero pakiusap nila walang escort (but their request is no escort),” he said.
On the possibility the boats will be water-cannoned again by the Chinese, Lorenzana said: “We will see.”
China is claiming almost the entire South China. The Permanent Court of Arbitration, in July 2016, invalidated China’s nine-dash theory and claim to the entire South China Sea. China has refused to acknowledge the court’s decision. Other claimants to the South China Sea aside from the Philippines are Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Duterte raised the Ayungin Shoal incident as he reiterated that claimants to the South China Sea must exercise utmost self-restraint, avoid escalation of tension in the disputed areas in the Sea, and work earnestly towards a peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.
He said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration provide legal clarity and “a just and fair solution to our disputes.”
“We abhor the recent event in the Ayungin Shoal and view with grave concern other similar developments. This does not speak well of the relations between our nations and our partnership,” he added.
“We all pledge adherence to the rule of law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Let us then walk our talk and move forward. Acta non verba. Deeds, not words,” he said.
Duterte urged China to remain committed to the conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
“There is simply no other way out of this colossal problem but the rule of law,” he said.
“Amidst the shifts and challenges in our region, may we always have the wisdom and serenity to do the right thing for the common good,” he added.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. conveyed the Philippines’ “outrage, condemnation and protest” over the Ayungin incident.
The Chinese government on Friday said the Philippine vessels trespassed into Chinese territory and that its forces were just protecting Chinese territory while the Philippines said what China did was illegal as the Ayungin Shoal is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Under UNCLOS, the EEZ covers up to 200 nautical miles off a country’s territorial sea.
Duterte, in the same event, recognized China and ASEAN’s 30 years of partnership and acknowledged the contributions of China to the region that made it the ASEAN’s comprehensive strategic partner.
He said China was the first to provide the region with COVID-19 vaccines when these were still scarce.
He also welcomed China’s ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which he said will help strengthen the “already robust ASEAN-China economic relations”.
Lorenzana said the military will be in communication with the crew members of the two boats during the resupply mission.
National Security Adviser and concurrent chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea Hermogenes Esperon Jr. scored China for saying the Filipino boats were trespassing.
“The pronouncement of China that we were trespassing is disturbing… We’re the ones whose trespassing when they’re inside our exclusive economic zone?” Esperon said.
MORE PATROLS
Esperon said the country needs more ships to be able to guard its EEZ, assert the country’s sovereignty, and apprehend vessels illegally fishing in the West Philippine Sea.
“We are rich (in maritime resources) but we cannot protect it, maybe because we lack investment on that. We need more more fisheries vessels to apprehend illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and to protect our sovereignty,” said Esperon.
Asked if government treats China as a friend or as an enemy, Esperon said the country wants to be friends with China but the Chinese should not use its might to push its claims in the West Philippine Sea.
Esperon said a “peaceful” and “rules-based” relation should prevail in the West Philippine Sea. “Huwag yung dadaanin natin sa palakasan, walang mangyayari sa atin dun (Let us not resort to might, we won’t achieve anything with that,” he said.
Also, Esperon said he hopes the problem would not lead to an armed confrontation between Philippines and China, saying this will trigger the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between Philippines and United States.
The MDT requires the two nations to respond to any armed attack in metropolitan territory of either parties or on the island territories or on armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.
However, Esperon said any US response to aid the Philippines during such attack would have to be cleared by the US Congress.
He said the US response to help the Philippines should be “automatic” just like the US agreements with Japan and Taiwan. “But we can work that out later on,” he said.
CLEAR POLICY
Rep. Carlos Zarate (PL, Bayan Muna) said Duterte only has himself to blame.
“The buck also stops with Malacañang. China’s aggressiveness in the WPS and inside our own territory is also largely a product of the so-called ‘soft landing’ and ‘pivot to China’ foreign policies of the Duterte administration since 2016. China has become even more emboldened with its imperialist actions in the WPS because of the vassal-like attitude of the Duterte administration,” Zarate said in a statement.
The militant lawmaker said Duterte’s statement denouncing the Chinese water cannon attack “should be coupled with a clear policy statement stopping his skewed appeasement policy that only resulted to China’s aggressive, even unchecked expansionism.”
Otherwise, he said the President’s statement can be interpreted as a “mere political stunt since elections are fast approaching and he again wants to court the Filipino peoples’ votes for him and his candidates.” — With Wendell Vigilia
