The Daily Tribune
The Department of National Defense (DND) is now validating reports of another possible Chinese intrusion into the country’s territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) as Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin chided his Chinese counterpart, Liang Guanglie, for “double-talking.”
Gazmin said he is still awaiting the official report of the sighting of an orange structure along the waters of Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) or the Spratlys during a media coverage by a TV network recently.
“I have not received the official report, I was told informally but I have not received the official report. Until then will I be able to confirm that,” he added.
Asked if the government is validating if it came from China, Gazmin replied “yes.”
He also scored his Chinese counterpart following several intrusions made by the Chinese despite assurance from Guanglie that Beijing is for the peace and stability in the disputed areas.
“If you have been following the events you will know that he says one thing and things are taking place opposite to what he is saying. Remember he was here and during the time that he was here, there were two violations and he was talking and speaking in the Shangri-la dialog in Singapore, there was another violation. So you can conclude (the doublespeak),” Gazmin stressed.
The Defense chief was referring to the May 21 and 24 intrusions by Chinese vessels into the Douglas Bank where they unloaded construction materials and placed buoys. At the time, Gazmin was receiving Liang at Camp Aguinaldo as official visitor.
Last June 3, when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), China and the US held the Singapore dialog, another Chinese intrusion was reported.
The incidents were the subjects of diplomatic protest filed by the Philippines against China during the past months.
Gazmin stressed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), particularly the Western Command (Westcom), is continuously patrolling the KIG to protect the country’s territorial waters.
The AFP has already validated at least six Chinese intrusions into various Philippine-claimed territories in the West Philippine Sea.
Gazmin had branded the increase in the number of incursions as alarming.
“All the intrusions made by China are being attended to by filing the necessary diplomatic protest. This has been done several times already and we feel that we should go to the United Nations for the resolution of the case,” he said.
At the same time, Gazmin welcomed the agreement between Asean and China to create a binding Code of Conduct in connection with the dispute.
“That is a very welcome move…we do hope that this becomes a step toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” he said.
Relatedly, Gazmin said China should not be alarmed over the visit of four lawmakers to the KIG last Wednesday.
“China should not alarmed because that (Kalayaan) is ours. It was a visit to your own territory, why are we alarming anyone?” he said.
Akbayan party-list Rep Walden Bello led three other lawmakers and some media practitioners in a “peace and sovereign mission” to Kalayaan amid the tension between the Philippines and China over the disputed Spratlys.
Relatedly, Beijing also yesterday warned the United States not to interfere in territorial disputes with its Asian neighbors over the South China Sea, during talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Clinton said ahead of a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the Indonesian island of Bali that Washington welcomed a deal between China and Southeast Asia on guidelines meant to reduce tension in the strategic sea.
“I want to commend China and Asean for working so closely together to include implementation guidelines for the declaration of conduct in the South China Sea,” Clinton told reporters.
But during their meeting Yang reminded Clinton that China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea or anywhere else were none of Washington’s business.
“The Chinese side raised its own concerns, which is that it is important to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” Chinese delegation spokesman Liu Weiming told reporters, summarizing Yang’s comments to Clinton.
Liu said Yang and Clinton specifically discussed the South China Sea, a potentially resource-rich waterway stretching from China’s southern coast deep into Southeast Asia.
But in a note of conciliation, he said the US seemed to understand the “sensitivity of these issues” and the two sides had “agreed to further promote dialog and mutual understanding.”
The bilateral talks came a day ahead of the Asean Regional Forum, Asia’s main security dialog involving Southeast Asian nations as well as China, Japan, the US, Russia and the Koreas.
China lays historical claim to the South China Sea in its entirety, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to islands and maritime territory in the area.
The Philippines and Vietnam have expressed anger in recent months over what they call China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the area, such as harassment of fishermen and oil exploration vessels.
China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) announced a “breakthrough” in the dispute last Wednesday, endorsing a set of guidelines designed to reduce tensions in the waters.
But, almost 10 years in the making, the non-binding guidelines were quickly criticized by Philippine diplomats as lacking teeth, while officials from all sides said a binding code of conduct was still a long way over the horizon.
And in comments likely to irk China, a US official travelling with Clinton said she would tell her Asian counterparts on Saturday that the United States had a “strategic stake” in the South China Sea.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines, a close US ally, “strongly believes that only through collaboration with the US could we deal with regional security issues.”
Meanwhile, a joint economic exploration of the disputed Spratly Islands among claimant-countries was proposed to be pursued by Malacañang yesterday even as the ownership issue remains pending before the United Nations (UN).
Administration Sen. Ralph Recto reiterated his proposal, saying the country could spearhead the forging of another joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) among claimant-countries, after the first one with China and Vietnam that was signed way back in 2005 lapsed in 2008.
Recto said the joint exploration proposal could be part of the talking agenda that President Aquino will bring to the table when he visits China in August or September this year.
“If we could sell this idea to the Chinese, it would not be difficult to convince the others,” he said. “Let’s leave the sovereignty issue to DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs). Our focus is on how we can make use of the economic potentials of Spratlys now while zealous foreign ministers debate over the next decade their sovereign claims,” he added.
Angie M. Rosales and AFP
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