Authorities from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) were contacting their counterparts from China when Chinese coast guard, navy, and maritime militia vessels performed dangerous maneuvers and fired water cannon at Philippine vessels near Ayungin (Second Thoms) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Chinese officials did not answer the DFA’s call, says National Task Force for West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya.
As part of a bilateral consultation mechanism, the Philippines and China established a maritime communication system where they could contact each other to address issues arising from overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
But the Ayungin cannon attack cast doubt on the effectiveness of the communication system, with Malaya noting that the incident could have been avoided if only Chinese authorities were willing to talk.
Chinese officials didn’t answer call from PH counterparts during cannon attack – official
At a glance
Authorities from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) were contacting their counterparts from China when Chinese coast guard, navy, and maritime militia vessels performed dangerous maneuvers and fired water cannon at Philippine vessels near Ayungin (Second Thoms) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
This was revealed by National Task Force for West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya on Wednesday, August 9, as he noted that the Chinese officials did not answer the DFA’s call.
“[At] the height of the Ayungin Shoal incident noong Sabado ay tumatawag po tayo doon sa numerong ibinigay ng Peoples Republic of China sa atin. Wala pong sumasagot (At the height of the Ayungin Shoal incident last Saturday [August 5], we were calling the number given by the People’s Republic of China to us. No one answered),” Malaya said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
He said that China only answered the Philippines’ call when the incident was already over.
The dangerous maneuvers and water cannon attack on two Philippine indigenous boats that were escorted by two Philippine Coast Guard vessels resulted to a botched resupply mission for troops onboard the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
As part of a bilateral consultation mechanism, the Philippines and China established a maritime communication system where they could contact each other to address issues arising from overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
But the Ayungin cannon attack cast doubt on the effectiveness of the communication system, with Malaya noting that the incident could have been avoided if only Chinese authorities were willing to talk.
Malaya, who is also an assistant director general of the National Security Council (NSC), said China’s failure to respond during the height of the Ayungin incident was among the things discussed when the DFA summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian last Monday, August 7.
“Our side expressed disappointment na bakit tawag tayo ng tawag wala namang sumasagot? Sumagot din sila eventually pero noong tapos na ‘yung tension (Our side expressed disappointment and we were wondering why they wouldn’t answer when we were calling them repeatedly? They answered eventually but when the tension was already finished),” he said.
Malaya expressed hope that China, "just like the Philippines", would be “interested in lowering the tension and in resolving this in a diplomatic and civilized manner.”
He said that the government right now has a “menu of options” on what it can do moving forward from the incident. He said Malacañang will announce the government’s next step towards resolving the issue. The DFA earlier filed a diplomatic protest against China over the Ayungin incident.
“We [will] never abandon Ayungin Shoal. There was never any promise in the past that we will abandon Ayungin Shoal and we are committed to Ayungin. We will keep on resupplying our troops because Ayungin Shoal is a symbol of our sovereignty,” Malaya stressed.