While China and the Philippines are at loggerheads over the illegal shipment of construction supplies in the Philippines to China’s Ren’ai Jiao (also known as Ren’ai Reef), with the aim of inciting Manila to further provoke China into escalating tensions, several Western countries, led by the US, have expressed support for the Philippines’ illegal actions in the South China Sea while condemning China’s legitimate, restrained and professional responses.
For the second time in as many days, China’s Foreign Ministry has urged the Philippines to immediately tow away a military vessel “grounded” off a reef and return it to its original state with no personnel or equipment on board, it said in a statement on Tuesday. ministry and pointed out that Ren’ai Reef is part of China’s Nansha Qundao (Nansha Islands).
Also on Tuesday, Wu Qian, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, said in response to the US Defense Department’s latest statement on the matter that “the US remarks ignore the facts and baselessly accuse China of its legitimate and lawful maritime right.” coercive measures. China is adamantly against it.”
US Defense Department spokesman Patrick Ryder said on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday that “we stand with our Philippine allies in condemning the PRC’s efforts to obstruct lawful operations at Second Thomas Shoal.”
Wu said: “The United States is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in it. We demand that the US immediately stop using the South China Sea issue to stir up trouble and sow discord, and truly respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. as well as the positive efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
China Coast Guard (CCG) lawfully detained vessels and took warning enforcement measures. Faced with ineffective warnings through numerous verbal communications, water cannons were used as a means to avoid direct confrontation and collision, Wu noted.
On-site operations were reasonable, legal, professional and compliant. China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly protect its national sovereignty and calls on the Philippines to abide by its commitments and immediately stop all provocative actions, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense said.
China’s military will resolutely fulfill its duties and missions and firmly protect national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, Wu said.
Analysts said China still insists on a diplomatic way to resolve the issue and China continues to press the Philippines to fulfill its promise and that Chinese enforcement forces will not harm Philippine personnel but prevent Manila from strengthening its military. vessel in the region. If the US military gets involved and incites Manila to further provoke China to escalate tensions, the Chinese military is also fully prepared for any possible escalated situation to effectively protect China’s sovereignty and legitimate rights, even if China does not want tensions to escalate.
Release of evidence
On Tuesday, the CCG released a video clip showing how the CCG ship reacted with rational restraint throughout the process. Timed on August 5 at 9:40 a.m., the 2-minute-40-second video showed CCG ship 5201 firing a warning water cannon against the Philippine vessel.
Analysts who watched the video told the Global Times on Tuesday that the CCG ship did not change its course during its operation and just as the Philippine ship signaled its determination to rush into the waters near Ren’ai Reef, the Chinese side fired water. cannons at him to warn and drive him away.
The CCG showed great restraint in its actions in the face of the Philippine invasion. It is precisely because of China’s professional restraint, rather than the deliberate use of force, as some other countries would have done in similar cases, that the incident did not turn into a major collision, believes Tian Shichen, a former navy captain and founder of the independent think tank Global Governance Institution and director of the non-governmental institute International Center for the Law of Military Operations, he told the Global Times on Tuesday.
China’s position on demanding that the Philippines withdraw the “grounded” warship has never changed in recent years and will not change this time either, said Ge Hongliang, director of the China-ASEAN Maritime Security Research Center at Guangxi University for Nationalities. Global Times on Tuesday.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman made it clear on Tuesday that the cause of the current situation in Ren’ai Reef is that the Philippine side ignored China’s goodwill and sincerity and continued to send construction materials to repair and strengthen the “grounded” military vessel. on a large scale.
Later on Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in the Philippines issued a statement saying that since the beginning of this year, China has proposed a number of maritime initiatives to the Philippines, including the management of the Ren’ai reef, and is awaiting feedback from the Philippine side.
The South China Sea is not a “hunting park” for countries outside the region to do mischief and sow discord, the Chinese embassy said, opposing any words or actions that create tension and provoke confrontation in the South China Sea, urging the US to seriously respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
The spokesman criticized the Philippines’ move as a serious violation of international law and the signed Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).
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