PH files diplomatic protest vs China over ships around occupied territory
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:21:34 +0000
THE Philippine government has filed another diplomatic protest against China, after the military claimed over the weekend that more than 600 Chinese vessels have been circling Pag-asa Island (Thitu Island) in the West Philippine (South China) Sea since January.
“I understand that we have filed a diplomatic protest, per the Western Command. The DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) already made a diplomatic protest… for that incident, for the so-called vessels being stationed there [in the island],” Palace Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing on Monday.
Panelo said that “definitely,” the government saw something wrong with the vessels there.
“The mere fact that they’re there, staying there for a week, why? What are you doing there?” Panelo said.
He said that the government has “did its part” in filing the diplomatic protest.
“Let us see how they will respond to the diplomatic protest,” Panelo said.
He added that he would raise the issue during his meeting with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua when they meet later in the day.
“There were issues raised in the South China Sea. Maybe, I will raise that,” Panelo said.
He said that if the presence of Chinese vessels in the island was true, he would “politely ask” Zhao why such activities were happening and for China to stop what it was doing.
Lt. Col. Elpidio Factor of the AFP Western Command said that about 600 Chinese vessels were circling the island, and were considered as maritime militia.
Factor said that the ships were “occasionally complemented by [a] Chinese Coast Guard vessel to sustain China’s assertive presence in the vicinity of the sandbars.”
Panelo, however, said that Vice Admiral Rene Medina of the Western Command reported that there were only 275 Chinese ships.
He also said that contrary to the report, the Chinese vessels were not “circling,” but only standing by, which made “a world of a difference.”
“If they are circling, they are planning something. But, if you are only stationary, maybe you are just watching,” Panelo said.
The statement of Factor came a few weeks after former government officials filed a case against China over its ongoing activities in the disputed sea where the Philippines continued to assert its sovereignty.
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