By News Agencies
China has increased its presence in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc for Filipinos and Huangyan Dao for China in the South China Sea, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has charged.
Using information supplied by the Philippine Coast Guard, the DFA said that May 22, Tuesday, marked the worst escalation of Chinese presence, listing 76 utility boats, 16 fishing vessels and less than five government vessels.
It compared the presence in May 21, when at around 8 p.m., there were five Government vessels (CMS-71, CMS-84, FLEC-301, FLEC-303 and FLEC-310), and 16 Chinese fishing vessels, but only 56 utility boats.
The presence of so-called fishing vessels is a mystery since China has already announced a fishing ban for its fishermen up to August this year.
At a briefing, the DFA said "there is an increasing number and pattern" of such presence in the area.
Expressing "grave concern over these continuing actions by China that escalate tension in Bajo de Masinloc, the DFA said that on Tuesday, May 21, it sent a Note Verbale to the Chinese Government through its embassy here. It is not known how the embassy reacted.
But earlier, on Tuesday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) warned that any escalation of the dispute in the Scarborough Shoal, particularly one that would "change the nature of the issue," would be opposed strongly.
In another press conference on Wednesday, MOFA spokesperson Hong Lei said there are about 20 such fishing boats in the area. "This number is roughly the same with that in the same period of the previous years," headed.
He defended the fishing boat presence and said it "complies with the related Chinese laws and the fishing moratorium issued by the Chinese government."
Calling the briefing a situationer report, the DFA said "it is regrettable that these actions occurred at a time when China has been articulating for a de-escalation of tensions and while the two sides have been discussing how to defuse the situation in the area."
"The Philippines demands that China's vessels immediately pull out from Bajo de Masinloc and the Philippines' EEZ and for China to refrain from taking further actions that exacerbate the situation in the West Philippine Sea," which is how Manila now calls the South China Sea.
At the Beijing press conference, Philippine media was quoted to have reported that nearly 100 Chinese boats or dinghies are in the shoal, called Huangyan Dao in China and Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines.
Without giving particulars, Hong remarked that "the Philippine side has recently taken some provocative actions in the Huangyan Island waters, thus the Chinese side has adopted corresponding measures to strengthen management and control" by allowing more vessels in the contested territory.
"The Philippines protests these actions of China as clear violations of Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Shoal and sovereign rights over the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that covers the waters around Bajo de Masinloc," the DFA said.
The DFA said it is committed to efforts of defusing the tensions in Bajo de Masinloc, and volunteered that "talks are continuing between the DFA and Chinese Embassy officials." Embassy officials, however, said there are no such talks in Manila.
China's actions also violate the United Nations Charter on the use of force against territorial integrity and political independence.
DFA's invoking of the ASEAN's Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea and the UN reinforces its position that negotiations with China must also be rules-based and multilateral.
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