Defense dep’t orders tighter military watch in West PHL Sea

THE DEPARTMENT of National Defense has ordered the military to strengthen its presence in the West Philippine Sea, the territory the country claims within the South China Sea, following reports of increased Chinese activity in the area.

“Any encroachment in the West Philippine Sea or reclamation on the features therein is a threat to the security of Pag-asa Island, which is part of Philippine sovereign territory,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Pag-asa Island is also referred to as Thitu Island.

“It also endangers the marine environment, and undermines the stability of the region,” the Defense department added.

It also called on China to uphold prevailing rules-based international order and refrain from acts that will increase tensions in the disputed waters.

Beijing, meanwhile, said its relationship with Manila remains smooth and reiterated its denial of a report that it has been conducting reclamation activities in unoccupied features of the resource-rich Spratlys Island, parts of which are claimed by the Philippines and calls it the Kalayaan Island Group.

“The Bloomberg eport s ompletely untrue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said, according to a transcript released by the Chinese government late Wednesday.

“Refraining from action on the presently uninhabited islands and reefs f he ansha slands s  erious ommon understanding eached by China and ASEAN countries in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC), nd China always strictly abides by it,” she added.

The 2002 DoC, where both the Philippines and China are signatories, provides that “no new structures shall be constructed in an uninhabited feature of South China Sea.”

The South China Sea, a key global shipping route, is subject to overlapping territorial claims involving China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Each year, trillions of dollars of trade flow through the sea, which is also rich in fish and gas.

“The growth of hina-Philippines relations urrently njoys sound momentum, and he two sides will continue to roperly handle maritime issues through friendly consultations,” Ms. Mao said.

VERIFY
In a report published Tuesday, Bloomberg News cited warnings from Western officials on Beijing’s latest construction activity, which they said indicated an attempt to advance a new status quo.

The report included graphics such as a map and images on changes in land features, mentioning Whitsun Reef, locally known as Julian Felipe Reef, and Sandy Cay, locally known as Pag-asa Cay, “where previously submerged features now sit permanently above the high-tide line.”

“The Bloomberg report created a stir but lacked definitive and time sensitive details,” Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

“It cited expansion of occupied features in the past decade, a long stretch that dates back prior to the 2016 arbitration award,” he said. “Instead of merely referencing such report, it will be better to investigate and verify facts on the ground before taking appropriate action.”

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday asked relevant agencies, including the Department of Defense, to verify the report.

DFA expressed “serious concerns,” saying the reported activities go against the Declaration of Conduct on the South China Sea, as well as the 2016 Arbitral Award.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration based in the Hague upheld the Philippines’ rights to its exclusive economic zone within the disputed waterway.

China has repeatedly rejected the 2016 arbitral ruling, which voided its claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea based on a 1940s nine-dash line map.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is scheduled to visit Beijing in January.

“China’s occupation of new features in the Spratlys, especially post the 2016 arbitral award, will undermine efforts to foster cordial PH-CN ties, diminishing mutual trust and confidence and raising Manila’s threat perception of its big neighbor. Hence, such charge is taken seriously,” Mr. Pitlo said.

“West Philippine Sea remains a challenge to bilateral ties and needs to be handled deftly. Further reclamation only raises the bar, making it more difficult for rival disputants to manage the regional hotspot,” he said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan