China: Intrusion charge groundless

West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) AFP FILE PHOTO

BEIJING—China on Monday said accusations its navy recently entered Philippine waters were “groundless,” as it warned Manila against causing disturbances in the disputed South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).

On Sunday, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it had conveyed “serious concerns” to the Chinese embassy in Manila over China’s recent actions in the West Philippine Sea.

The DFA said two Chinese vessels and a navy ship were sighted in the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, which is about 113 kilometers (70 miles) off  Palawan, on December 11 and 12.

A Philippine military commander said they apparently came from a Chinese-occupied reef in the disputed Spratlys islands then cruised into Philippine waters.

“China will not accept the groundless accusations from the Philippine side,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin told journalists.

“We hope the Philippines will not create something from nothing and cause disturbances.”

Escoda is well within the Philippines’ internationally recognized 200-mile exclusive economic zone, but China claims all of the South China Sea, including the potentially oil-rich Spratlys islands.

Insisting that the Escoda (Sabina) Shoal lay within its territory, China told the Philippines that it saw nothing wrong with the passage of three Chinese vessels near the sandbar in the West Philippine Sea on December 11 and 12, the DFA said Monday.

Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Bai Tian, charge d’ affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Manila had “verbally said that Sabina Shoal has a Chinese name and is within their territorial jurisdiction.”

PH sovereignty, jurisdiction

Hernandez would not say what the DFA planned to do next after it filed a diplomatic protest against the latest intrusion by Chinese ships into the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Citing reports from the Department of National Defense and Armed Forces of the Philippines, the DFA on Sunday said it had filed a formal protest with the Chinese embassy regarding the “sightings of two Chinese vessels and a People’s Liberation Army ship in the vicinity of Escoda Shoal.

In a statement, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario pointed out that the shoal was “within Philippine sovereignty and maritime jurisdiction.”

Del Rosario called the Chinese intrusions “clear violations of the 2002 Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” or Unclos.

The DFA said that on January  5 it “conveyed to (Bai Tian) its serious concern” over China’s recent intrusions in the West Philippine Sea.

Increasing presence, activities

Last year, the Manila accused Beijing of “serious violations,” following several aggressive acts in the disputed waters.

In a diplomatic protest, the DFA cited the “increasing presence and activities of Chinese vessels” in the West Philippine Sea.

Beijing’s actions “hamper the normal and legitimate fishing activities of Filipino fishermen in the area and undermine the peace and stability of the region,” said the DFA.

The military had reported, among things, that PLA navy ships and a Chinese surveillance vessel were seen unloading building materials and erecting posts in the vicinity of Iroquios Reef and Amy Douglas Bank, an undersea hill off southwestern Palawan.

Both Iroquois Reef and Amy Douglas Bank are within the country’s 200-mile EEZ.

The Chinese mission has denied any incursions by its ships. But it acknowledged the presence in the disputed area of a “marine research ship conducting maritime research activities” in the South China Sea. AFP, AP and Jerry E. Esplanada

Originally posted at 06:47 pm | Monday, January 09, 2012