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Manila, Philippines – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has criticized China for asking the Philippines to stop carrying out “illegal provocations” in the Western Philippine Sea.
In a statement, Lorenzana said that it is China that should stop its illegal provocations in the disputed area, including its illegal occupation of territories that are within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines, as it does not have any rights over the resource rich region. .
“That area is within our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), the Chinese have no right to claim that they are enforcing their laws as they are illegally occupying the country’s EEZ,” he said.
“His alleged historical rights to an area enclosed by his line 9 do not exist except in his imagination,” he added.
China previously urged the Philippines to stop its provocations, adding that the sending of planes over the airspace of the disputed Spratly Island Group was an intrusion on China’s security and sovereignty.
Beijing issued the statement after Manila lodged a diplomatic protest over China’s “continuing broadcasts of radio challenges.” [against] Philippine Aircraft Conducting Legitimate Regular Maritime Patrols in the Western Philippine Sea “.
The Department of Foreign Relations said it also filed the diplomatic protest after members of the Chinese Coast Guard allegedly seized the fish aggregation devices used by Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc in May.
Following the incident, the Philippines deployed military aircraft over the disputed area.
Masinloc Bass or Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal is a vital spawning ground for fish found more than 100 nautical miles off the coast of Masinloc, Zambales.
It is among the areas of the South China Sea claimed by China, including the waters within the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hage ruled that, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Masinloc Basin is a common fishing ground and that China’s claims on the strategic water body are invalid. . – RRD (with details from correspondent Lea Ylagan)
