Philippine lawmakers score Chinese harassment at sea

PHILIPPINE senators on Tuesday condemned China’s reported harassment of two Philippine ships on a resupply mission on June 30, and urged the government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to seek legal remedies.

“China is reckless and irresponsible,” Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a statement. “Her continued attempts to illegally occupy our territories only demonstrate her complete disrespect of international law.”

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels BRP Malabrigo and BRP Malapascua were escorting a small boat on a resupply mission to the Philippine Navy ship BRP Sierra Madre when they encountered “an armada” of Chinese Coast Guard militia, tweeted Raymond Powell, a fellow at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.

“After the resupply, the two Chinese Coast Guard ships pursued the PCG ships to the east,” the former US Air Force official said.”

The PCG had yet to confirm the incident.

The Philippines deliberately had BRP Sierra Madre run aground on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in 1999 to serve as an outpost of the Philippine Marine Corps to assert Philippine sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Ms. Hontiveros said it is crucial for the government to raise the South China Sea issue to the United Nations General Assembly. “I hope that the Senate can tackle my resolution regarding this as soon as session resumes, as we need the support of the wider international community to stop China’s unbridled aggression.”

Senator Jinggoy Estrada in a separate statement said “repeated provocations” by Chinese vessels are unacceptable and violate international law.

“I urge the concerned agencies to pursue all available legal and diplomatic avenues to address this issue and seek appropriate remedies,” he said. “Diplomatic channels should be utilized to convey our strong condemnation and demand for an immediate halt to these aggressive actions.”

Also on Tuesday, Ms. Hontiveros-Baraquel, Mr. Estrada and Senator Francis N. Tolentino weighed in on the newly released Hollywood movie Barbie, which showed China’s nine-dash line map.

“The movie is fiction, and so is the nine-dash line,” Ms. Hontiveros-Baraquel said. “At the minimum, our cinemas should include an explicit disclaimer that the nine-dash line is a figment of China’s imagination.”

Mr. Estrada said he wouldn’t be surprised if the movie gets banned in the Philippines. “It may be a work of fiction but still, this is a very sensitive issue,” he said.

“It is contrary to our national interest and China has no historic rights in the waters within the nine-dash line. No less than the arbitral tribunal already held in 2016 that this infamous line has no legal basis,” he added.

Mr. Tolentino said the movie “denigrates Philippine sovereignty” and should be banned.

Vietnam, one of the claimants in the South China Sea, has banned the movie, according to the BBC. — Norman P. Aquino and Jan Jiminel Cacdac