THE continued presence of China’s maritime militia vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef has exposed Beijing’s intention to occupy other features in the West Philippine Sea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana claimed on Sunday.
The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) had reported, based on the latest patrol of the military, that at least 44 Chinese vessels remain at the reef, with a bigger number having already dispersed and redeployed to other areas in the Kalayaan Island Group and WPS.
“The continued presence of Chinese maritime militias in the area reveals their intent to further occupy features in the West Philippine Sea,” Lorenzana said in a statement on Sunday that was released by DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong.
“They have done this before at Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc and at Panganiban Reef, brazenly violating Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights under international law,” the defense chief added.
Lorenzana’s strongly worded statement was the latest in a weekend verbal exchange with the Chinese government over the swarming presence of Chinese vessels in the WPS, particularly at the Julian Felipe Reef where at least 220 ships have converged since March 7 before they dispersed to other areas three weeks later.
On Saturday, Lorenzana reiterated his demand for the Chinese government to pull out its maritime militias from the Julian Felipe and from other features in the WPS, saying “umalis na kayo diyan” [leave that place] in the vernacular.
“I am not a fool,” he said, to believe China’s claims that the fishermen were just taking shelter, citing weather reports noting no disturbance.
Responding to his call, the Chinese Embassy said it has taken note of Lorenzana’s “perplexing” statement on the fishing vessels around “Niu’e Jiao” in the South China Sea, which it said is “part of China’s Nansha Islands.”
“China is committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the waters and we hope that authorities concerned would make constructive efforts and avoid any unprofessional remarks which may further fan irrational emotions,” it also said.
The embassy’s statement insisting that Julian Felipe Reef is part of China’s Nansha Islands provoked a scathing rebuttal from Lorenzana on Sunday.
“The utter disregard by the Chinese Embassy in Manila of international law especially the Unclos to which China is a party is appalling. Its nine-dash line claim is without any factual or legal basis. This, together with its so-called historical claim, was flatly and categorically rejected by the arbitral tribunal,” he said.
“The Philippines’s claims stand on solid ground, while China’s do not. China should respect Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Islands, and its sovereign rights over its Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by Unclos and affirmed by the arbitral award,” the defense chief added.
Lorenzana asked China to stop being a trouble maker and source of discord in the South China Sea.
“As a party to the DOC [Declaration of Conduct], China should refrain from conducting activities that disturb regional and international peace and security,” he said.
Locsin weighs in
Also on Sunday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., who had earlier filed a diplomatic protest over the Chinese boats’ swarming presence in Julian Felipe Reef, weighed in and said military might was not the issue, but consistently asserting one’s right.
Replying to a tweet by former presidential aide Edwin Lacierda that China continues to repeat its claim that the South China Sea belongs to them, Locsin said: “China can say what it wants, Philippines will do what it must to keep what’s hers by right. Irrelevant whether we possess commensurate military power to meet the challenge; we will not yield but die—or trigger World War 3. Not a bad outcome; living is overrated. Honor is all.”
Locsin, who had just flown in from a three-day trip to China for a meeting with three Asean counterparts and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, negated suspicion, however, that the recent donations of Chinese-made Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines donated to the Philippines were in exchange for the continued occupation by China of reefs and atolls that are part of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the WPS.
“There is not even the faintest suggestion from China that the vaccines it generously provides has an exchange in mind be it sovereignty or concession; it is just,” Locsin tweeted.
“Wang Yi said, what good neighbors do for each other. Chinese not cheap. It is help extended; no submission expected,” he added.
Another netizen noted that the situation is a “catch-22 situation since we need vaccines which we can’t get from the West that China has been providing us.” Locsin, who had actively campaigned since May 2020 for a diverse source of vaccine supply from all countries producing them—the US, Russia, China, United Kingdom—had lamented that developed countries have cornered the supply of Covid-19 vaccines only for their own citizens, and at the expense of poorer countries.