The chase of a Philippine civilian boat by China’s sea assets such as its coast guard and the Type 022 Houbei fast attack craft with two mounted missiles in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and later way into Palawan is tantamount to territorial incursion, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said on Friday.
Given this latest incident, Del Rosario reiterated his call for the sending of a “demarche” or a direct, purposeful, and pointed petition or protest against China.
The United Nations, according to the former DFA secretary, may be informed through the office of the UN secretary-general.
“Such UN notification will form part of official Ph communications, including those required under Article 51 of the UN Charter relating to individual and collective self-defense,” he explained.
Del Rosario also reiterated his earlier suggestion for the Philippines to revisit a joint patrol agreement of the WPS with the United States and the Philippines which had been approved by then-Deputy Secretary Anthony Blinken sometime in early 2016. Blinken is now the US State Secretary under the administration of US President Joe Biden.
“The agreement was not pursued by President Duterte as he was concerned that it would displease Beijing,” the former top Filipino diplomat said.
Meanwhile, Acting Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Elizabeth Buensuceso has raised the issue of the presence of Chinese militia vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef during the virtual ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) held on Tuesday, April 7.
“The continued deployment and lingering presence of a large swarm of maritime militia vessels within the Philippines’ maritime zones remains a serious concern and we reiterate that a conducive environment is crucial for the COC negotiations,” said Buensuceso.
The Philippines is currently the country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations.
Buensuceso pointed out that actions that intimidate, escalate tensions, and undermine mutual trust and confidence, violate sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially those that run counter to international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) impede the progress and momentum of the Code of Conduct (CoC) negotiations and threaten its success.
The Philippi has lodged a series of diplomatic protests against Beijing for the continued incursion of a huge number of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef, an area located 175 nautical miles from Bataraza town in Palawan and way within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.