Philippines 'contemplating' what to do vs Chinese harassment
A definite action from the Philippine government may be coming up soon in response to China's continued harassment against the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said that the Philippines is now "contemplating" what it could do regarding China's continued harassment.
He said the country has been making "necessary approaches to China in terms of contacting them through various means to express" Manila's complaint and displeasure at what has been happening in the waters off Escoda Shoal. But China's harassment continues.
"And not only that, our concern [was also] about raising tension over what was basically just innocent movement by Philippine vessel," Manalo told reporters Monday, Sept. 2.
Beijing had made provocative action and harassed Manila on Aug. 3, 8, 19, 24, 25 and 26 by launching flares in the air, conducting dangerous maneuvers and firing water cannons at sea, and ramming into Philippine vessels.
Last Aug. 31, China rammed into a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship three times despite no provocation from the latter.
"Well, they have accused us, as usual, of doing this and that. But obviously, it was just their doing this. We were just moving, and we were surprised by this incident," Manalo said about the latest maritime incident.
The Philippines had already previously made diplomatic move to appeal China to stop its harassment, including filing diplomatic protests and establishing direct line of communication between the country's two leaders; but they seemed to be not working.
"I think, siguro [maybe] in the coming days or weeks, we'll probably have a better picture of where we're headed for this," he said.
"But certainly, it doesn't help the situation, if you don't want it," he added.