BY VICTOR REYES and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday rejected China’s call for the Philippines to stop maritime exercises being conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in the South China Sea.
“They have no authority or legal basis to prevent us from conducting these exercises within the WPS. Atin Yan (That’s ours),” he said.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., concurrent head of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, said it is “perfectly all right” for the PCG and BFAR to conduct exercises in the West Philippine Sea area “because that’s our EEZ (exclusive economic zone), and some of the exercises are even done within our territorial seas.”
“I’m surprised to learn that China is protesting that, that we are having some exercises… with the Bureau of Fisheries and Coast Guard in the area… We can perfectly do it within our EEZ. We are even supposed to take care of the fisheries and if we have excess volume then we can share it with other states,” he said.
He added the area where the exercises are being held is done is within 12 nautical miles from the Philippines shorelines, which he said means it is within the country’s territorial seas.
The exercises were launched by the PCG and BFAR last week near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island and near the Scarborough Shoal which has been under China’s control since 2012 after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels.
The PCG has said the exercises are meant to improve the interoperability of the ships and personnel of the PCG and BFAR. The exercises are focused on navigation, maritime safety, search and rescue, and environmental protection.
On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged the Philippines to stop the drills.
“China enjoys sovereignty over Nansha Islands including Zhongye Island and Zhongsha Islands including Huangyan Island and their adjacent waters, and exercises jurisdiction in relevant waters. We urge the relevant side to respect China’s sovereignty and rights and interests, and stop actions complicating the situation and escalating disputes,” he said in a conference.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, where about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes each year. The Philippines is claiming parts of it (WPS), like Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
In 2016, an arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled that the claim, which China bases on its old maps, is inconsistent with international law.
Lorenzana said, “Their claims according to their so-called historical rights have no basis while we have two international documents saying the area is ours: the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea) of which China is a signatory and the (United Nations) Arbitral award of 2016.”
Lorenzana noted UNCLOS gave the Philippines the sovereign right to exploit areas within 200 nautical miles from the Philippine mainland.
“The arbitral award has categorically stated that the Chinese claim bounded by their so-called nine dash line according their ‘historical right’ has no basis in fact. Therefore, it is they who are encroaching and should desist and leave,” he also said referring to the 2016 ruling of the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that favored the Philippines.
On Wang’s claim that the maritime exercises are complicating the situation and escalating the dispute between the two countries, Lorenzana said: “No, it is they who are complicating the situation by their illegal occupation of reefs which they built into artificial islands.”
“Walang basis yung nine-dash line nila according to an international tribunal, Ergo, sila ang nagko-complicate ng situation by insisting on staying within our WPS. (Their nine-dash line has no basis according to an international tribunal. Ergo, it its China which is complicating the situation by insisting on staying within our WPS)” he said.
Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong said: “China has no business telling the Philippines what we can and cannot do within our own waters. The arbitral award has categorically stated that the Chinese claim bounded by their so-called nine dash line according to their ‘historical right’ has no basis in fact. Therefore, it is they who are encroaching and should desist and leave. We will continue to do what is necessary to protect our sovereign rights.”
The Philippines has taken a tough tone in recent weeks over the lingering presence of hundreds of Chinese boats in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), reviving tensions that had eased due to President Duterte’s embrace of Beijing.
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin ordered the filing of another diplomatic protest, one of more than a dozen recently, this time over China’s rebuke.
“They can say what they want from the Chinese mainland; we continue to assert from our waters by right of international law what we won in The Hague. But we must not fail to protest,” Locsin said in a Tweet.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Philippines will stop activities in the WPS only if China does the same.
“We will, if they stop, too,” Sotto said in reaction to Wang’s call.
Senate president pro tempore Ralph Recto it is China that should leave the country’s EEZ.
“It is China who is building military outposts and thereby destabilizing the region…It is China who should refrain from escalating tensions and leave the West Philippine Sea,” Recto said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said China’s statement is “more than being offensive.”
“It is the ultimate insult to our national dignity. Maybe it is time to review our foreign policy with respect to our diplomatic relations with China,” Lacson said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Wang must be “hallucinating” when he said that the Philippines is the one “complicating the situation and escalating disputes.”
“If China sincerely wants to avoid escalation, it should pull back her navy and maritime militia. China can’t even respect freedom of navigation on the high seas, and now she wants respect for her unfounded nine-dash line?” Hontiveros said.
At least 11 senators early this week introduced a resolution denouncing China’s illegal activities in the EEZ.
The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) said patrols conducted by maritime authorities from April 15 to 22 showed the presence of 14 Chinese vessels in the EEZ, including nine that were part of at least 200 ships that were docked at the Julian Felipe Reef. — With Raymond Africa and Reuters
