Philippines urges China to heed calls to ease tensions, to protest air tussle

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES on Monday urged China to heed calls to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea after what it described as “very dangerous” actions by two Chinese aircraft that dropped flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane conducting a routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal on Aug. 8.

The actions by China’s air force were to be expected because they were part of a “continuous pattern” by Beijing to assert its claims and presence in the South China Sea, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo C. Teodoro, Jr. told reporters on Monday.

“It is a response we should be acclimated to,” he said, as he called on China to abide by international law and heed appeals by the Philippines and other countries to “temper” its actions.

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

The Philippines’ National Security Council also urged China to “cease all forms of provocative and hazardous acts.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) separately said Manila would file a diplomatic protest with China over last week’s incident.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza told reporters in a WhatsApp message the DFA was set to file the protest “within the day.”

She said the incident would not affect Manila’s arrangement with Beijing on resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal, another contested feature in the South China Sea.

“The Philippines adopts a de-escalatory approach to tensions in the West Philippine Sea,” Ms. Daza said, referring to areas of the sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). “It remains committed to diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving disputes.”

Meanwhile, a task force handling the sea dispute with China said the Philippines would intensify air patrols within its airspace.

“Air and maritime security patrol missions will continue within our sovereign territory, airspace and exclusive economic zone,” it said in a separate statement. “The monitoring of our country’s airspace will be intensified.”

The Southeast Asian nation would continue maritime patrols in the South China Sea despite the “dangerous and provocative” actions of China’s Air Force last week, Philippine military chief Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. told reporters.

“China’s maneuvers… were very dangerous but the armed forces would not be deterred and would continue patrolling waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone,” he said.  “That is our right.”

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Sunday condemned the Chinese Air Force’s “unjustified, illegal and reckless” actions.

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) aircraft was undertaking a routine maritime security operation in “Philippine sovereign airspace,” the Philippine presidential palace said in a statement.

“The actions of the People’s Liberation Army-Air Force aircraft were unjustified, illegal and reckless,” the palace said. Mr. Marcos “stands by our brave men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, especially the PAF.”

“We have hardly started to calm the waters, and it is already worrying that there could be instability in our airspace,” it said. “The Philippines will always remain committed to proper diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving disputes.”

At Monday’s briefing, Mr. Teodoro said China should comply with international law and on an earlier agreement to de-escalate tensions.

The Chinese side on Saturday said it “organized naval and air forces to lawfully” drive away the Philippine plane after repeated warnings, describing its operations as “professional, standard, legitimate and legal.”

“We warn the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hype,” the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command said in a statement, accusing the Philippine military of “disturbing” its activities in the area.

Confrontations between the two nations in the South China Sea have mostly involved their navy and coast guard vessels.

China has controlled Scarborough, which falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but is also claimed by several other countries, since 2012 after maintaining constant coast guard presence there, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

The shoal is 240 kilometers west of the main Philippine island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass.

ANOTHER ROUND OF LAWSUITS
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

“Not only is China keeping our waters hostage; she has also started to encroach on our skies,” Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a statement. “These are clear and unacceptable violations of international law.”

She said the government should start working on the filing of another round of lawsuits against China before an international court. “We should not wait for China to escalate her provocations further before we raise these grave concerns to an international body.”

The Chinese Air Force’s acts happened a day after Beijing conducted a combat patrol near the shoal to test its troops’ “strike capabilities.”

Mr. Marcos has pursued closer security ties with the United States and other Indo-Pacific powers amid China’s increasing expansionism. — with Reuters