Chinese ships still on reef off Palawan: AFP chief

FOREIGN VESSELS The Philippine military says it has not yet finished counting the Chinese ships still on the Juan Felipe reef off Bataraza, Palawan. The photo taken on March 7 shows some of the 220 Chinese ships anchored in disputed waters in the South China Sea. —REUTERS

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine army chief confirmed on Monday that there were still Chinese ships in Julian Felipe Reef near Palawan province, two weeks since a Philippine Coast Guard team spotted more than 200 vessels there patrolling the Sea of Western Philippines.

“The ships are still there. We still count them, ”the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, told reporters on Monday.

But the AFP Western Command (Wescom) had yet to determine the numbers, following the reported presence of 220 Chinese ships in that coral zone named by the Philippines in honor of the composer of its national anthem.

A task force in the Western Philippine Sea said the ships “are believed to be manned by personnel from the Chinese maritime militia.”

But the Chinese embassy in the Philippines said in a statement Monday that “there is no Chinese maritime militia as alleged” on the reef that Beijing calls Niu’e Jiao.

The boomerang-shaped feature in the Western Philippine Sea is located 324 kilometers west of Bataraza, Palawan, and is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

‘Take refuge’

The Chinese Embassy, ​​however, said that “Niu’e Jiao is part of China’s Nansha Qundao.”

He added: “Recently, some Chinese fishing boats took refuge near Niu’e Jiao due to bad sea conditions. It has been normal practice for Chinese fishing boats to take refuge in such circumstances. “

“Chinese fishing boats have been fishing in their adjacent waters for many years,” he said. “Any speculation about it does not help at all, but causes unnecessary irritation. It is hoped that the situation can be handled objectively and rationally ”.

Patrol flight

A March 7 sighting by the Philippine Coast Guard reported that 220 Chinese ships, said to belong to the Chinese Militia, were moored in a line formation on the reef.

Sobejana said that military air and sea assets were still working to give an exact number of Chinese ships in the area.

Major General Edgard Arévalo, an AFP spokesman, said Wescom Chief Vice Admiral Ramil Enríquez sent a fixed-wing aircraft on Monday morning to conduct a sovereignty patrol flight over the reef.

The flight was completed in more than three hours. A report will then be sent to Sobejana and the National Task Force for the Western Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) through the Department of National Defense.

Arévalo said that “the AFP maintains that it will oppose any act of incursion or usurpation in our sovereign territory. Our mandate includes ensuring that our fishermen and compatriots can freely take advantage of our maritime resources and make their livelihoods in our EEZ. “

“However, we will follow the rules-based approach to solve the problem in question, consciously keeping in mind the call of the secretary of national defense for the Chinese to stop the incursion and to immediately remember the sighted ships invading our territory,” he added. additional.

‘Militarizing the area’

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, in a statement Sunday, said the presence of the Chinese ships raised serious concern and described it as a “clear provocative action to militarize the area.”

He called on the Chinese to stop the incursion and withdraw the ships, as the measure violated the maritime rights of the Philippines and invaded the sovereign territory of the country.

On its Facebook page, the Office of Presidential Communications Operations published an NTF-WPS statement on Saturday about the “presence of China’s maritime militias in the Western Philippine Sea.”

According to the statement, “NTF-WPS received a confirmed report from the Philippine Coast Guard that around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were spotted in line formation on the reef. Julian Felipe on March 7. ” 2021 “.

Furthermore, he said: “Despite the clear weather at the time, the Chinese vessels concentrated on the reef showed no actual fishing activities and had all white lights on at night. The NTF-WPS indicates this circumstance as a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as the risks to the safety of navigation ”.

Geopolitical weapon

On Monday, senators called the presence of the boats “acts of severe provocation” by Beijing against Manila.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said the government should study “more tangible ways to make China pay” for its occupation of the Philippine EEZ.

Senator Francis Pangilinan said in his statement: “[I]Isn’t this a deliberate sign that China is using its donated vaccines as a ‘geopolitical weapon’? “

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the country filed a diplomatic protest against China on Sunday night over the March 7 incident.

“Tonight the diplomatic protest began; I can’t wait for the first light, ”Locsin said on Twitter.

In his statement, former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario recommended that “given the seriousness of this fact, we should consider summoning the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines to ask why we should not consider this Chinese action in Julian Felipe Reef as a unilateral act of aggression against the territorial integrity of our country ”.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippines and China “have a close friendship. All things can be discussed between friends and neighbors. “

—WITH REPORTS FROM DJ YAP AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA

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