PH, US, Japan security chiefs to China: Desist from provocative behavior

The national security advisers of the Philippines, United States, and Japan have called on China to desist from "further provocative behavior" as they expressed concerns over Beijing's recent "dangerous and unlawful" moves in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the White House said Thursday (PH time).

"They expressed concerns about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) recent dangerous and unlawful conduct near Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Reef, and called on the PRC to abide by the legally binding July 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling and desist from further provocative behavior," the White House said, referring the US' Jake Sullivan, Japan's Akiba Takeo, and the Philippines' Eduardo Año.

Sullivan, the White House said, reaffirmed the ironclad alliance commitments of the US to both Japan and the Philippines.

The three officials held the trilateral phone call to reaffirm commitment to freedom of navigation and international law in the WPS and East China Sea, as well as the importance of keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The three officials emphasized the importance of enhancing trilateral cooperation and committed to keep implementing the initiatives they discussed at their meeting in June, which include:

• enhancing defense and security capabilities, particularly on cyber security
• maintaining a free and open maritime order
• enhancing cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
• maintaining a free and equitable economic order

The three will have close trilateral coordination over the coming months to push shared interests in a free and open Indo-Pacific, the White House said.

On Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the China Coast Guard (CCG) rammed and fired water cannon at Philippine vessels on a regular rotation and resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, the local name of Second Thomas Shoal.

The PCG said its own vessel BRP Cabra, and resupply boats Unaizah Mae 1 (UM 1) and M/L Kalayaan were water cannoned by CCG.

M/L Kalayaan suffered from serious engine damage as a result and had to be towed back to Ulugan Bay, Palawan.

On Saturday, the CCG also fired water cannon at the vessels of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) headed to Scarborough Shoal to distribute oil and other supplies to fisherfolk in the area.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing's Coast Guard "took necessary measures against the Philippine ships in accordance with domestic and international law."

"The operations were professional, restrained, reasonable and legal," she said, adding they have "lodged stern representations with the Philippines and expresses its strong protest."

China claims the South China Sea (SCS) nearly in its entirety, but an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands upheld Philippine sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone and invalidated China's expansive territorial claims in the disputed waters.

On November 1, Chinese and Japanese coast guard vessels also faced off in waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea. —KBK, GMA Integrated News