MANILA, Philippines — Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan said the tense encounter between Philippine and Chinese vessels at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal violated a 2024 arrangement between Beijing and Manila meant to prevent friction during rotation and resupply (RoRe) missions to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre warship.
In an interview with reporters on Tuesday night, Jing said the China Coast Guard (CCG) had observed Philippine Navy personnel “doing some construction work,” which he claimed was prohibited under the arrangement.
“So our people found your soldiers… They’re doing some construction work on the ship, so we sent boats to check… That’s against the spirit of the provisional agreement,” Jing said in a hastily called press briefing at a hotel in Taguig City.
READ: DFA: Deal with China ensured 13 successful Ayungin missions
The Chinese envoy noted that the 2024 arrangement agreed on by the two parties had been “implemented very well,” until the incident on Monday, wherein the supposed move by the Philippine Navy personnel allegedly “provoked” the CCG.
When the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) first announced in July 2024 that the Philippines and China had reached an “understanding” on a temporary agreement for the RoRe missions to BRP Sierra Madre, it did not provide details of the deal.
The dilapidated Navy ship, which is home to a small contingent of Filipino troops, has been grounded on Ayungin Shoal since 1999 to serve as an outpost that asserts the Philippines’ claims in the West Philippine Sea.
But after critics branded the deal as rewarding coercion, the DFA later explained that it does not compel Manila to seek Beijing’s permission and does not concede any territorial claims. It also pointed out that the arrangement was not under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) but a “mechanism” to prevent conflicts.
READ: AFP: China’s ‘edited’ video hid cause of confrontation
Asked on whether the encounter would trigger a review of the two-year-old agreement, Jing said: “Who knows? If there’s always [this] kind of confrontation–challenging each other, provoking the other side–we’ll see what happens.”
Despite the incident, which led to a Philippine Navy officer suffering a serious head injury, Jing said that China’s principle has always been to prioritize negotiations, saying: “Let’s talk… sit down, calm down, find a way [to] address each other’s concerns.”
He, however, maintained that China continues to oppose a Code of Conduct, which the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) hopes to finally adopt at the Asean Summit in November to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea.
“I don’t think the COC really addresses those… disputes. It never addresses each other’s bilateral concerns,” Jing said. /dl
The post West Philippine Sea: Chinese envoy blames PH in Ayungin encounter appeared first on Inquirer.net.
