The Philippines has filed 2 diplomatic protests against China for its activities in the country’s territory. In the Twitter account of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Sceretary Teodoro Locsin, he posted that the Chinese Embassy has received the protests on April 22.
According to the DFA, China has violated the sovereignty of the Philippines and international laws when the People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel pointed its radar gun to the Philippine Navy’s warship in the territorial sea of the Philippines. China also made declarations of Philippine territories as its provinces.
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has ordered the Philippine Navy to give complete details on the matter. He will speak with experts from the Navy and the Air Force on the possible effects of the incident on their ship.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command has confirmed that the ship involved in the incident is the B.R.P. Conrado Yap. “On February 17, 2020, while PS39 is underway to Rizal Reef Detachment, they detected a radar contact of a gray colored vessel. PS39 was first to issue (a) radio challenge (to) which the vessel responded, ‘the Chinese government has imputable sovereignty over the South China Sea, its islands and its adjacent waters.’”
The B.R.P. Conrado Yap, the strongest ship of the Philippines, conducted territorial defense at the Kalayaan Group of Islands on the same date, and detected a radar contact with another ship in Rizal Reef.
“Nevertheless, both vessels continued their respective voyage after that incident. WESCOM has reported this incident to higher headquarters.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense of China has announced 2 new districts in the West Philippine Sea. The first administrative unit is the Nansha District where it covers the Spratly Island and Kagitingan Reef while the second one is the Xisha District where it covers the Paracel Isand and Scarborough Shoal. Vietnam has initially filed a protest against China and stated that China must respect the sovereignty of their country. – Report from Bea Bernardo
