The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said it is aware of the deployment of two American warships to a Philippine-claimed shoal off the South China Sea, where two Chinese government ships collided two days ago while trying to drive away Filipino vessels in the disputed waters.
Manila says a United Nations convention allows foreign vessels to transit the shoal, known by its international name as Scarborough but called Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag in the Philippines, despite being “a longstanding and integral part of Philippine territory.”
“The DFA is aware of the FONOPS conducted by US warships in the vicinity waters of Bajo de Masinloc,” it said, referring to the United States’ term for freedom of navigation operations in the area, which is also being claimed by China.
“It should be pointed out that UNCLOS provides certain rights and freedoms of transit — such as innocent passage, freedom of navigation and archipelagic sea lanes passage — in the Philippines’ archipelagic waters, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone,” the DFA explained in a statement.
“Notification is not required by the Philippines for foreign vessels to exercise these freedoms in Philippine maritime zones, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS.”
UNCLOS stands for United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – regarded as the global constitution for the seas signed by 162 nations, including the Philippines and China.
On August 13, the USS Higgins and USS Cincinnati were shadowed by a Chinese navy ship while patrolling 30 nautical miles from the shoal, Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela told a press conference.
The US operation demonstrates Washington’s commitment to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea and is aimed at challenging unilateral attempts by any country to block and control passage in the waters, where a bulk of global trade passes through.
In 2012, former President Benigno Aquino III signed an administrative order renaming the stretch of waters in the South China Sea closer to the Philippines’ western coast as West Philippine Sea.
Several countries led by the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand condemned China’s latest harassment against Filipinos at the shoal on Monday after it fired powerful water cannons and sailed dangerously close to a Philippine coast guard ship, calling such actions “reckless, alarming and a violation of international law.”
A video captured by the Philippine Coast Guard showed a Chinese navy destroyer and a Chinese coast guard ship accidentally collided Monday while trying to drive away the Philippines’ smaller BRP Suluan vessel off the shoal.
Both Chinese vessels sustained damage, particularly the coast guard ship, with its bow completely shattered. Media reports suggest some Chinese coast guard personnel may have been seriously injured from the impact of the collision, but Beijing remains mum on the incident.
China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the waters prompted serious concerns and condemnations from several countries after China’s coast guard vessels have repeatedly blasted water cannons, used military-grade lasers and blocked Philippine government ships from conducting resupply missions from a shoal, locally called Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal, that Beijing also claims as its own.
Incidents of collision between Chinese and Filipino vessels have been increasing and several injuries from the Philippine side have also been reported.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
