In an apparent gutsy move, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. exposed China’s “threats” in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) during a meeting of top military officials in Nadi, Fiji recently.

Brawner attended the 25th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) conference which brought together senior military leaders from 27 countries to discuss challenges and opportunities in the region last week. The theme of the conference was promoting a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific.

It was the first time that China sent a delegation to the top-level meeting, which was led by General Xu Qiling, deputy chief of staff in the Joint Staff Department of China's Central Military Commission. 

Brawner was given the chance to present where he discussed the 2016 arbitral ruling that favored the Philippines’ claims in the WPS and invalidated China’s claims in the vast South China Sea (SCS).

He also showed a video of China Coast Guard’s firing of water cannon against Philippine supply boats and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels while they were on a resupply mission to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal last August 5.

This, according to Brawner, shocked the attendees of the meeting although they later expressed support to what he did during the end of the conference.

“Binanggit natin doon sa ating discussions ‘yung ginagawa ng Tsina, inexpose natin doon ang iba’t ibang mga banta (We discussed in our discussion what China was doing, we exposed the different threats),” Brawner said on Monday, August 21.

“Nagpresent ako pero napakaspecific na talagang patama sa Tsina although hindi naman natin sinadya na tamaan ‘yung China doon pero sumagot sila eh (I presented a very specific topic that appears to be a hit on China although it was not my intention to confront them, but they answered),” he added.

The AFP Chief said China’s delegate responded by saying that they still follow international rules although insisting that “SCS is theirs.” 

The delegate also stated that China will continue to do its activities in the SCS to protect their interests, and also rejected the arbitral ruling as “invalid” and “unacceptable.”

The exchange of words continued when Brawner got back at the Chinese delegate: “Sabi ko ‘Well you have historical claims on the South China Sea, we also have historical claims on the West Philippine Sea.’ Talagang sinabi ko ‘yun kaya ‘yung ibang mga bansa eh talagang nagugulat (I said ‘Well you have historical claims on the South China Sea, we also have historical claims on the West Philippine Sea.’ I really said that and other countries were shocked).”

“Pero sabi ng US, Australia at Japan noong lumapit sa akin na kinausap ko, sabi eh, ‘That was very gutsy but you did the right thing.’ Sabi eh ‘We were waiting for you to do that.’ Of course sabi ko we have to speak up (But the [military representatives] from US, Australia, and Japan approached me and said ‘That was very gutsy but you did the right thing.’ They said ‘We were waiting for you to do that.’ Of course I told them that we have to speak up,” Brawner stressed.

The confrontation occurred two weeks after China Coast Guard vessels shot jets of water at Philippine vessels that were bringing supplies to troops onboard BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, an atoll located within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines but also being claimed by China.

The interrupted mission was resumed by the AFP and PCG on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Both agencies have yet to disclose what happened during the mission but a source confirmed that it was a “success.”