HEADLINE-ASIA GEOPOLITICS | National Security Council (NSC) on sea aggression: China in for a surprise
This photo taken on April 22, 2023 shows Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Malapascua patrolling near Chinese vessels moored at Whitsun Reef in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea./ AFP / Ted Aljibe
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MANILA, Philippines — China is “in for a rude surprise” if it thinks it can intimidate Filipinos with its increasingly aggressive behavior in Philippine waters, National Security Council (NSC) assistant director general Jonathan Malaya said yesterday.
He made the pronouncement a day after President Marcos declared that his administration would take action against Chinese hostile acts in the West Philippines Sea, saying, “Filipinos do not yield.”
Without giving details, Marcos said any response to future Chinese provocation would be “proportionate, deliberate and reasonable.”
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingIn an interview with Facts First, Malaya said Filipinos would not let another hostile Chinese action go unanswered.
“Let me assure the public that if the Chinese think they can force us into submission because we’ve already suffered physical injuries or damage to our ships, then they’ll be in for a rude surprise,” Malaya said. He declined to share details.
“They should not underestimate the Filipino fighting spirit,” he added, stressing that the Philippines is on the side of the law and rules-based international order, citing the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal decision that invalidated China’s massive claim in the South China Sea.
“We shall remain undaunted notwithstanding what is happening,” said Malaya, who is also the spokesman for the National Task Force on the WPS (NTF-WPS).
He maintained that China was apparently “testing our resolve” and looking for gaps and weaknesses in the Philippines’ position.
He said it’s China that is being humiliated by its actions in the West Philippine Sea, as the international community has become more aware of its sinister nature as an Asian power.
He also chided China for resorting to war mongering to make it appear that it is the Philippines which provoked the Chinese coast guard into using powerful water cannons to stop a Filipino boat en route to Ayungin Shoal to deliver provisions for troops on the BRP Sierra Madre last week.
Beijing claimed the rotation and resupply mission (RORE) was carrying construction materials to fortify the Sierra Madre.
“It shouldn’t matter what we’re carrying. In the first place it’s ours, it’s a long-standing outpost, it’s been there for a long time now. Whatever we do with our resupply mission is our business,” Malaya said.
Frustration
While acknowledging public frustration over the issue, Malaya rejected insinuations that the government is not doing enough to stop the Chinese harassment.
He stressed that the Philippines’ response was actually irritating China, which wanted the Filipinos to do something more drastic or unlawful so we would lose our moral high ground in the dispute and justify further Chinese provocations.
“We are not going to do that,” he said.
On Friday, the Department of National Defense (DND) said China’s statement on the March 23 water cannon attack on a resupply boat was a reflection of its isolation from the rest of the world as well as proof of its “uncivilized activities in the West Philippine Sea.”
“It also shows the inability of the Chinese government to conduct open, transparent and legal negotiations,” the DND said. “Their repertoire consists only of patronizing and, failing that, intimidating smaller countries,” the DND added in its statement.
“The world has seen and knows that the Filipino people are not aggressors. We will never seek a fight or trouble. Neither will we be cowed into silence, submission or subservience. We do not yield. We are Filipinos,” the DND said.
On Wednesday last week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III spoke with DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. over the phone to reaffirm the ironclad US commitment to the Philippines.
Austin emphasized US support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and reiterated that the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to both countries’ public and coast guard vessels and aircraft anywhere in the Pacific region and the South China Sea.
The US Defense Department said the two officials discussed the importance of preserving the rights of all nations to fly, sail and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows.
Austin and Teodoro also highlighted the significance of the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling, which they stressed is final and binding.
The two officials also agreed to bolster bilateral and multilateral cooperation with like-minded partners in the South China Sea and committed to accelerate a number of bilateral initiatives to enhance information-sharing, interoperability and capability enhancements for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Warning
On Holy Thursday, Marcos decried the “open, unabating and illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous” attacks by China coast guard and maritime militia on Filipino vessels and said the Philippines would not be “cowed into silence.”
Marcos’ warning is the latest sign of the escalating disputes between China and the Philippines in the contested waters that have caused minor collisions between the coast guard and other vessels of the rival claimant nations, sparked a war of words and strained relations.
China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, where a bulk of the world’s commerce and oil transits.
China’s defense ministry earlier accused the Philippines of escalating the South China Sea disputes by undertaking provocative moves and spreading “misinformation to mislead the international community.”
“It is straying further down a dangerous path,” Senior Col. Wu Qian, the Chinese defense ministry’s top spokesman, said in a statement issued Thursday by the Chinese embassy.
Wu said China remained “committed to properly managing maritime differences,” while Marcos said he had been in touch with international allies who had offered to help the Philippines.
Marcos said he issued his statement after meeting top defense and national security officials, who submitted their recommendations. These include the use of faster military vessels instead of chartered civilian boats when the Philippine navy delivers a new batch of personnel and supplies to Ayungin Shoal, two Philippine security officials said.
It is unclear if Marcos approved that recommendation.
In the March 23 Chinese water cannon attack, the cannon blast was so strong it threw a crewman off but he hit a wall instead of plunging into the sea, Philippine military officials said.
The Philippine government summoned a Chinese embassy diplomat to convey its “strongest protest” against China. Beijing accused the Philippine vessels of intruding into Chinese territorial waters, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and saying China would continue to take actions to defend its sovereignty.
