Denying Coast Guard access to China vessel slammed, as 'artistic protest' slated

Several student organizations at the University of the Philippines in Diliman (UPD) on Friday slammed the recent refusal of a Chinese vessel to submit to a search by Philippine authorities within the Philippines’ territorial sea.

UP-based youth organization Kasama ka sa Paglikha ng Arte at Literatura Para sa Bayan (KALikha) said the incident - where members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) were not allowed to inspect Chinese research vessel Jia Geng docked off Catanduanes last January 29 - was among China's "various aggressions" toward the Philippines.

“The most recent docking of a Chinese research vessel off the coast of Catanduanes in January wherein members of the Philippine Coast Guard were not allowed to board the vessel for inspection is just one of the many activities of China to show off their power over us,” KALikha-UPD chair Camilo De Guzman said in a statement.

The Coast Guard had already explained its personnel were not given access to the ship to avoid transmission of COVID-19.

“While the concern of avoiding transmission of COVID-19 is valid, it should not have prevented our Coast Guard to still inspect the vessel as there are ways to avoid transmission while doing so. This is clearly an evasion of our exercise of sovereignty in our own territory,” said De Guzman.

Jia Geng was the same research vessel spotted in Philippine waters in northern Luzon in September, within the Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone where it claimed to be seeking shelter from bad weather.

In last January's incident, Jia Geng was reportedly seeking shelter once more within Philippine waters due to a gale warning in the area, the PCG had said.

Student leader Danicah Chaves, chair of the UP College of Arts and Letters Freshies, Shiftees, and Transferees Council, for her part, said: “Ang kalayaang ipinaglaban ng ating mga ninuno ay hindi natin kailanman isusuko. No matter what type of aggression China throws at us, one thing is clear: Hindi tayo magpapa-api.”

As part of their protest, KALikha said it would be mounting a one-day live exhibit, artistic protest, and an accompanying online exhibit at the end of the month.

The exhibit aims to demonstrate through various art forms and media the types of aggression executed by China and its effects to Filipinos and our sovereignty.

Likewise, Amber Quiban, the group's National Advocacies and Campaigns officer, said they are also planning to conduct an online webinar via Zoom in April to "historicize and discuss the political and social implications of incursions similar to the ones that happened in Bajo de Masinloc and Catanduanes."

“We just really want to highlight that these aggressions may not directly affect many of us, but it does affect the livelihood of many Filipinos who have already been relegated to the margins and tough conditions made tougher by the pandemic, and even tougher by the threats posed by Chinese presence on them,” Quiban said.

Last month, Senator Risa Hontoveros had already argued that denying the PCG access to the ship was a violation of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.

“Inside our territorial sea, we have an unambiguous right to board and inspect. Kung COVID-19 protocols ang pag-uusapan, our law applies, not China’s. If the Chinese Embassy sincerely wants to reassure us that it is not violating international law, China should, once and for all, waive its belief of the nine-dash line, a historical claim with no legal basis,” Hontiveros said.

“China should also cease all provocations in the West Philippine Sea and in Philippine territorial waters, such as by allowing Chinese vessels to be boarded for inspection by our own Coast Guard,” she added. -MDM, GMA News