Philippines accuses 5 Chinese warships of secretly entering territorial waters
The Philippine general said that in the past two months, Chinese warships have continuously entered the country's territorial waters without notifying Manila.
|
Chinese warships conduct exercises in the East Sea in 2016. Photo:Xinhua. |
"Two Chinese warships were detected along the Sibutu Strait in the Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi in July and three others were detected in August," Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Philippine Western Mindanao Command, said on August 14.
According to General Sobejana, the Philippine military mobilized air and naval assets to approach the Chinese warships, forcing them to change course.
Sibutu Strait is located within the territorial waters of the Philippines. Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), foreign ships are allowed to pass through the territorial waters of a coastal state without prior notification, provided they are conducting innocent passage or moving in a straight line towards the sea.
However, the Philippines has always required foreign warships to contact the Philippine government before passing through. Warships of other countries also always comply with Manila's regulations.
General Sobejana asserted that the passage of the Chinese warships could not be considered innocent passage because they did not move in a straight line. In addition, these warships also turned off their automatic identification systems, making it impossible for the Philippines to communicate by radio.
The Philippine Defense Minister also said last month that Chinese warships from February to July had entered the area at least four times.passed through the waters between Bongao Bay and Sibutu Strait without prior notice.Philippines-China relations have significantly improved under Duterte, but he has faced backlash from officials and the public for his "soft" approach to China's illegal activities in the East Sea.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to visit China later this month to discuss bilateral issues with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Duterte said the reason he planned to go to Beijing was because China "is delaying the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) and that is causing many incidents."
Duterte said that during his visit, he would discuss the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the South China Sea, which rejected China's unreasonable sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, as well as pressure Beijing not to continue delaying the COC.
