Military says China only shadowed US, PH warships
A CHINESE Navy ship yesterday shadowed three United States and Philippine navy warships that were conducting joint patrol in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.
Brawner said the incident occurred at around 10:15 a.m. near the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project platform which is about 50 km or 27 nautical miles from mainland Palawan.
It is not a cause for concern, he also said.
“There was shadowing. We monitored a Chinese vessel shadowing the joint maritime patrol but there are no aggressive actions by China and I hope this continues,” he said,
Brawner said two Philippine Navy ships and a US Navy ship were sailing to northern Palawan when they observed the Chinese Navy ship shadowing them about 6.5 nautical miles away.
He could not immediately say how long the Chinese Navy ship shadowed the Philippine and US ships which are involved in a three-day joint patrol in the area. The patrol started in Batanes last Tuesday and was due to end later Thursday in the West Philippine Sea.
“There were no challenges, we were not challenged… no dangerous maneuvers. They followed us, shadowing,” said Brawner of the shadowing.
Chinese Navy ships have shadowed Philippine Navy ships in the contested West Philippine Sea in the past.
Asked if the latest shadowing was a cause for concern, Brawner said: “It’s not, because they do this all the time. Even purely US FONOPS (freedom of navigation operations) are also subjected to (Chinese) shadowing.”
AFP public affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the incident was separate from Chinese shadowing of the US and Philippine ships last Wednesday.
Earlier reports said a Chinese Navy ship and a surveillance plane also monitored the Philippines and US joint patrol in the West Philippine Sea on Wednesday. There was also no aggressive action by China during the incident.
“There was also an incident yesterday and what the CSAFP (Chief of Staff, AFP) said is the latest observation on the ground/sea by our sailors,” said Trinidad.
Brawner said China’s resorting to mere shadowing “only goes to show that this joint maritime and air patrol did not really escalate the tensions in the West Philippine Sea.”
Brawner said the joint patrol was “very successful in the sense that there are no untoward incidents.”
“We were able to achieve the objectives that we set forth for this joint maritime and air patrol. We saw how we could operate close with our ally, the United States…On my part as the chief of staff, I’m happy that the joint maritime and air patrol so far has been very successful,” Brawner told reporters as of past 1 p.m. Thursday.
“We found out that we can operate with them (US forces) side by side and in a very effective manner,” added Brawner.
Brawner said the joint patrol is not aimed at China which has harassed military resupply missions at the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal in the past months.
“It’s not meant to agitate China. Our only objective (in conducting the joint patrol) is to make sure that we have interoperability with our ally, the United States,” said Brawner.
He said the two sides also made sure that they followed rules-based international order while conducting the joint patrol.
Brawner said China’s resorting to mere shadowing “only goes to show that this joint maritime and air patrol did not really escalate the tensions in the West Philippine Sea.”
Brawner said the conduct of the joint patrol was discussed with President Marcos Jr during the latter’s recent visit to the headquarters of the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii.
“We (US and Philippine military officials) presented this to the President,” said Brawner.
Asked if there will be more joint patrols with US in the future, Brawner said: “There was no discussion as to when is the next and frequency of this joint maritime and joint air patrols.”
On the reported joint patrol with Australia in the coming days, Brawner said: “I don’t know, I haven’t heard that yet.”
During a public briefing, AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar said other countries have expressed interest in holding joint patrols with the Philippines.
“We are ironing out the necessary terms, reference, agreements so that we will have the right process. But the good thing is there are a lot of countries that are very interested in partnering with us in the conduct of several activities that we believe will also help us promote our national interest,” he said.
Aguilar did not identify the countries “because these are work in progress.”
“Many are interested and all these (activities) are being discussed, studied so they can be carried out properly.”
FORUM
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the 31st Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF31) was convened primarily “to stress enhancing the maritime security,” amid the challenges posed by China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
The Speaker, who co-chairs the APPF31 with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, was reacting to Indonesia’s resolution underscoring the need to respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“Dinaraan na lang sa persuasion. Talagang sa ganitong forum maraming resolutions (There are really a lot of resolutions in fora such as this), some very similar so (the solution is) consolidation, like sa Kongreso ‘pag maraming bills, consolidate para makahanap ng common ground (like in Congress, when there are a too many bills, we consolidate to be able to find a common ground),” he told a press conference at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Romualdez said world leaders should learn to “disagree” without being so “disagreeable,” and just resort to persuasion.
The Speaker however said it is still too “premature” to suggest that the APPF members will take any particular position so “we will have an open mind.”
“Our multilateral relations are not manifested on one particular issue. We have many facets. Let not one issue define the total relationship (with China). Let’s use the forum to look for a common ground,” he said. — With Wendell Vigilia
