Keeping watch: Philippine Coast Guard personnel are seen on Thitu Island in the South China Sea. — AFP
The country inaugurated a new coast guard monitoring base on an island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea and plans to expand joint patrols with the United States and Australia to counter China’s “pure bullying” in the strategic waterway, a Philippine security official said.
High-seas face-offs between Chinese and Philippine ships have intensified this year in the contested waters, fuelling fears of a larger conflict that could involve the US. The US has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
China has accused the US of meddling in an Asian dispute and sowing discord in the region.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano and other Philippine officials flew to Thitu Island on an air force plane on Friday and led a ceremony to open the newly-constructed, two-storey centre that will have radar, ship-tracking and other monitoring equipment to monitor China’s actions in the hotly disputed waters and other problems, including sea accidents.
“It’s no longer grey zone. It’s pure bullying,” Ano told reporters after the seaside ceremony, describing the actions of Chinese ships as openly flouting international law.
Dwarfed by China’s military might, this year the Philippines decided to allow an expansion of the US military presence in its local camps under a 2014 defense pact. It also recently launched joint sea and air patrols with the US and Australia in a new deterrence strategy that puts the two allied powers on a collision course with Beijing.
Ano said the separate joint patrols involving the US and Australia would continue and could expand to include other nations like Japan once a security agreement being negotiated by Tokyo and Manila was concluded.
“We’re open to like-minded countries to join as observers or participants,” Ano said.
China has warned that such joint naval patrols must not hurt its “territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests”. Despite Manila’s counter-actions, China reasserted its claim to the sea on Friday.
As the Philippine air force aircraft carrying Ano, presidential adviser Andres Centino, Philippine coast guard chief Admiral Ronnie Gavan and other officials approached Thitu, Ano said Chinese forces transmitted a radio warning for them to stay away.Ano said the Filipino pilots dismissed the message and in turn, routinely asserted Philippine sovereign rights and control over the area. Peering later through a mounted telescope on the island, Ano said he spotted at least 18 suspected Chinese militia ships scattered off Thitu, including a Chinese navy vessel. — AP
Unlock 30% Savings on Ad-Free Access Now!
