Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto del Rosario. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady has been instructed to pursue the country’s consultations with China to resolve the standoff over Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Sunday.
Del Rosario told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday, that Philippines and China have not formally resumed consultations but Brady has been given instructions to pursue it and that the DFA has forwarded to Malacañang its recommendations on how to deal with the dispute. Del Rosario declined to disclose the DFA proposals.
Aside from Bajo de Masinloc, Manila also refers to Scarborough Shoal as Panatag Shoal. On the other hand, Beijing calls the rock formation Huangyan Island.
Earlier, DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said Brady has been directed by both the Palace and the foreign office to “employ diplomatic means” to resolve the conflict.
The DFA has expressed confidence that Brady would be able to use all her diplomatic skills in finding a temporary solution to the dispute.
In a text message to the INQUIRER, Hernandez last week said “the instructions to Ambassador Brady were to find a peaceful solution to the Bajo de Masinloc issue and to employ diplomatic means to resolve it.
The foreign office has yet to receive updates on the issue from the Philippine embassy in the Chinese capital. But Hernandez said “consultations (between the two sides) will certainly resume.”
On May 27, President Benigno Aquino III named Brady, who served as envoy to Beijing from 2006 to 2010, to her old post amid a growing clamor for a skilled diplomat to handle the frayed ties with China caused by the territorial dispute.
Three days later, the Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed the appointment of the veteran diplomat, along with six career DFA officials.
The President earlier told Palace reporters, that “given the complexities of our relationship with China right now, it has to really be somebody who is the best we can produce.”
“Brady has been to China. We expect her to use her experience and contacts to provide added insight and understanding of Chinese actions and policies,” noted Secretary Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office.
As ambassador to Beijing, the 70-year-old Brady has concurrent jurisdiction over North Korea and Mongolia.
Brady has been an adviser on foreign affairs since Aug. 19, 2011. She held the post of DFA undersecretary for policy post from 2003 to 2006.
The Quezon native also served as director of the agency’s Asia-Pacific office from 1988 to 1992 and had been assigned to its political affairs office from 1968 to 1976.
Aquino’s last nominee to the post, family friend Domingo Lee, went through a rough time in the bicameral CA despite the urgent need for a diplomatic representative in China, given the territorial issues in the region.
Congress refused to approve the posting, pointing out that Lee was inexperienced. Lee opted out after the CA again deferred his appointment before Congress went on recess. He has since been named special envoy to China for tourism.
Meanwhile, Zhang Hua, the spokesman of the Chinese embassy in Makati City, said Brady’s appointment has been accepted by Beijing.
However, Brady has yet to present her credentials to her host government.
“She is not in Beijing yet,” Zhang told the INQUIRER.
In the June 27 and 28 press briefings of the Chinese ministry, the Scarborough Shoal dispute was not taken up.
On June 25, ministry spokesman Hong Lei reported that “the current situation in Huangyan Island tends to be relaxed in general.”
Hong said “Chinese government vessels have maintained jurisdiction and vigilance over waters off Huangyan Island.”
At the same time, he reiterated China “has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Islands (Spratly group of islands) and their adjacent waters.”
Hong warned Beijing is “against any illegal activities by any country that infringe upon China’s sovereignty.”
On reports that a Philippine fishing boat was allegedly rammed and sunk by a Hong Kong-registered vessel, he said “competent Chinese authorities have so far not received any report of ships colliding or calling for help in the said waters during that time.”