(AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — “The Philippine side should face the consequences of its own action.”
These were the words of Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning after she was asked whether or not China would pay P60 million to the Philippines following the June 17 incident at Ayungin Shoal, where Chinese personnel wounded a Filipino sailor and damaged the Philippines’ naval equipment.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said he personally had written to Defense Sexretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. about the AFP’s payment demand, asking if it could be forwarded to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) “for them to reach out to their counterparts in China.”
China, however, did not categorically answer whether it would pay or not.
Mao only insisted on China’s claim to Ayungin Shoal, alleging that the Philippines was conducting illegal resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre.
“The Philippine vessels were carrying out an illegal resupply mission which violated China’s territorial waters and staging a provocation when stopped by China Coast Guard, who acted lawfully and rightfully to defend China’s sovereignty,” Mao said in a regular press briefing on Thursday after she was asked to comment on the AFP’s demand.
China’s continued aggression in Philippine waters is borne out of a sweeping claim over most of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.
It, however, has long been dismissed by an arbitral tribunal in a historic ruling.
Ayungin Shoal sits well within Philippine territory.
“Ayungin Shoal is 423.30 nautical miles from the Paracels, and 617.39 nautical miles from the Chinese mainland – clearly beyond the 200 nautical miles maximum maritime entitlement for an exclusive economic zone under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the DFA earlier said.
“China cannot, therefore, lawfully exercise sovereignty over it,” it added.