MANILA: The Philippines summoned on Monday Beijing’s ambassador to Manila to protest the China Coast Guard’s use of a water cannon against a Filipino supply boat in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippine Coast Guard said on Sunday that its Chinese counterpart had fired a water cannon and used “dangerous” moves to block a chartered Philippine vessel that was on a routine troop rotation and resupply mission near the Second Thomas Shoal, which Manila calls Ayungin Shoal.
“A note verbale … was issued during the summon of the Chinese ambassador by Undersecretary (Theresa) Lazaro,” Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said during a press conference in Manila, referring to a DFA official.
“Lazaro conveyed to the Chinese ambassador this morning the strong protest of the Philippine government … The Philippines demands that China immediately stop its illegal activities in our maritime zones.”
Manila’s ambassador in Beijing has also handed a protest note to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday morning, Daza added.
The Philippines has filed over 400 diplomatic protests against China since 2020, and nearly three dozen were filed so far this year.
Philippines' foreign ministry holds a joint news conference on water cannon incident in the South China Sea on Aug. 7, 2023. (Supplied)
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that the Philippines will continue “to assert our territorial rights in the face of all of these challenges and consistent with the international law.”
Last month, the Philippines stepped up patrols in its part of the South China Sea after recording dozens of “Chinese maritime militia” in the contested, resource-rich waterway.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entirety of the South China Sea based on its so-called “nine-dash line” stretching over 1,500 km off its mainland and cutting into the exclusive economic zones of several countries, including the Philippines.
Though an international tribunal in The Hague dismissed the expansive Chinese claim of the waters in 2016, Beijing does not recognize the ruling and has in recent years increased activities in the area, including developing its military presence by building artificial island bases.
“We will never abandon Ayungin Shoal,” said Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson for the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea, or the Philippine part of the South China Sea.
“We are here precisely to assure the Filipino people that we are consistent with the president’s directive that we will not lose an inch of our territory.”
