THE Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has asserted that it is not responsible for the recent tension in the South China Sea, instead blaming the United States anew for inflaming the situation in the important maritime passageway.
This was the embassy’s response to a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the US and the Philippines have a “shared concern” about China’s actions that “violate international law and the rights of the Philippines.”
“The US is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in the maritime issues between China and the Philippines. The recent tension in the South China Sea would not have occurred without the US egging on the Philippines,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
“China is not the one that provoked the recent tense situation in the South China Sea, and thus the responsibility for the recent situation at sea does not lie with China. China was made to take necessary steps to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the face of infringement of our rights and interests and provocation,” it said.
Meeting Marcos
Blinken, the latest high-level official to visit the United States treaty ally, was in Manila Tuesday, March 19. He met Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo before separately meeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“We stand with the Philippines and stand by our ironclad defense commitments, including under the Mutual Defense Treaty,” Blinken said in a news conference with Manalo.
“We have a shared concern about the PRC’s actions that threaten our common vision for a free, open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea and in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” Blinken said, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China. He cited “repeated violations of international law and the rights of the Philippines: water cannons, blocking maneuvers, close shadowing and other dangerous operations.”
The Chinese coast guard blocked and used water cannons against Philippine vessels in a confrontation two weeks ago that slightly injured a Filipino admiral and four of his sailors near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal. The March 5 faceoff in the high seas also caused two minor collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels and prompted the DFA to summon China’s deputy ambassador to convey a protest against the Chinese coast guard’s actions, which the Philippines said were unacceptable.
The Chinese coast guard said then that “it took control measures in accordance with the law against Philippine ships that illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to Ren’ai Reef,” the name Beijing uses for Second Thomas Shoal.
The Second Thomas Shoal, which is occupied by a small Philippine navy contingent but surrounded by Chinese coast guard ships and other allied vessels, was the site of several tense skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships in the past year. But Filipino officials said the confrontation earlier this month was particularly serious because of the injuries sustained by its navy personnel and damage to their vessel.
Warning
Blinken renewed a warning Tuesday that the US is obligated under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) to defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack anywhere in the South China Sea.
However, the Chinese Embassy said it “firmly oppose the groundless accusations made by Secretary Blinken about China’s legitimate and lawful actions in the South China Sea and his thinly veiled threat to invoke the so-called MDT obligations.”
The embassy said China had to take necessary steps to protect the country’s territory and rights due to encroachment by other countries, clarifying that “freedom of navigation” has never been an issue in the South China Sea.
It said it believes the true intention of the United States is to cause trouble in the region. Sending warships and military aircraft near Chinese territory is proof, according to China, that America is the real threat to peace, it added.
China also emphasized that the US should not interfere in this issue. The tension in the South China Sea would not have occurred without US meddling with the Philippines.
The MDT between the Philippines and the US is a relic of the Cold War, the embassy said.
China urged the US to stop instigating trouble and to refrain from interfering in the South China Sea issue, saying it will do everything necessary to protect the country’s rights and territory, and to maintain peace in the region.
In 2013, the Philippines, under President Benigno Aquino III, initiated arbitration proceedings against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). This move aimed to challenge China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, represented by the nine-dash line. The Philippines argued those claims violated Unclos.
The tribunal ultimately ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016. The tribunal found that China’s nine-dash line had no legal basis and that its historic rights claims did not supersede the Philippines’ maritime entitlements under Unclos. This decision came shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte took office.
China rejected the arbitration process and does not recognize the ruling. / KAL, AP