China brushes off PH diplomatic protest, says actions in WPS will continue
China on Tuesday, March 5, warned that its actions in the West Philippine Sea would continue despite the Philippine government’s recent diplomatic protest in relation to Beijing’s latest water cannon attack and dangerous maneuver against Philippine vessels.
Asserting its unilateral claim over the West Philippine Sea, the Chinese embassy in Manila did not see any wrong when China’s coast guard blocked the path of a Philippine vessel and attacked the latter with a water cannon.
The blockade led to a collision, which China's Coast Guard (CCG), in a statement, just described as "mild" as well as the injury of four Filipino crew.
China’s stand was made clear when it lodged a representation to respond to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)’s summon. The Chinese embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, Zhou Zhiyong, met with the Philippine government to discuss the latest incident.
Through Zhou, “the embassy pointed out that the relevant Philippine vessels intruded into the waters adjacent to the Ren’ai Jiao of China’s Nansha Islands without the permission of the Chinese government,” that was why it made the attack, the embassy’s statement said.
“China Coast Guard took necessary regulatory actions on the Philippine vessels in accordance with the law. The response of China Coast Guard was professional, restrained, reasonable and lawful,” the statement read.
The Chinese embassy also said the Philippines "reneged on its commitments to China" as well as "provoked incidents in the waters off the Ren’ai Jiao, and seriously violated China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests."
"China once again urges the Philippines to stop maritime provocations and refrain from taking any actions that may complicate the maritime situation," the embassy said.
Its coast guard said the Philippines was only sensationalizing the incident and doing provocative actions "with extortion activities."
"China will continue to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with domestic and international law," the embassy added.
CCG said the Philippines "must bear full responsibility" for the incident.
Four Filipino crew of a PCG vessel were injured following a dangerous maneuver committed by China's coast guard against its Philippine counterpart, which eventually led to a collision.
The incident took place as PCG vessels BRP Cabra and BRP Sindagan were deployed to support the Rotation and Reprovisioning Operation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).