Marcos urged to recall envoy to China after water cannon incident

A SENATOR on Sunday asked the government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to recall the Philippine ambassador to China as a sign of protest after the Chinese Coast Guard again fired water cannons at Philippine vessels on a resupply mission in the South China Sea.

“It is up to the executive branch, and it is something we haven’t done yet,” Senator Francis N. Tolentino, who heads the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones, told DZBB radio in Filipino.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The Philippine Task Force on the South China Sea on Nov. 10 said China’s coast guard used “dangerous maneuvers and a water cannon” to block a Philippine resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal.

The Philippine Embassy in Beijing filed a diplomatic protest against China after the incident, it said.

China’s coast guard in a statement said the Philippine resupply vessels had infringed on China’s sovereign rights when it entered into waters near the Second Thomas Shoal.

“The China coast guard has followed Philippine vessels in accordance with the law, taken control measures and made temporary special arrangements for the Philippine side to transport food and other necessary daily necessities,” it said.

Mr. Tolentino said recalling the Philippine ambassador would show a high level of condemnation over China’s actions in the South China Sea.

“This is not cutting off [diplomatic relations],” he said. “This will just show that these incidents are too much, even after the many diplomatic protests we have filed.”

The Philippines filed 125 diplomatic protests against China from July 2022 to Nov. 7, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza said on Nov. 10.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened after the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons to block Manila’s attempt to deliver food and other supplies to BRP Sierra Madre, which Philippines deliberately grounded in 1999 to assert its claims, on Aug. 5.

Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometers from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.

Last month, the Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China and summoned its envoy in Manila after its ships collided with Philippine vessels on a resupply mission the shoal.

China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety based on a 1940s map, which a United Nations-backed tribunal said in 2016 is illegal.

“You can see how China is intensifying its activities…They are not abiding by international law,” Mr. Tolentino said.