Whitsun Reef row: could the Philippines lose another South China Sea feature to Beijing?
- The Philippines has summoned Beijing’s top envoy in Manila to a meeting where ‘both sides affirmed the use of peaceful settlement of disputes’
- But analysts say despite Manila’s strong protests, it not only risks losing control of the reef, it may soon be forced to pick a side between the US and China
Officials from the two countries have traded acrimonious remarks since some 200 Chinese vessels, including some believed to be maritime militia, moored around the reef in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) last month, an incident Beijing insists was prompted by bad weather.
Foreign affairs acting undersecretary Elizabeth Buensuceso on Monday conveyed Manila’s deep displeasure over the ships’ “illegal lingering presence” to Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian, in a meeting where “both sides affirmed the use of peaceful settlement of disputes”, the foreign affairs department said on Tuesday.
The last time the foreign ministry summoned a Chinese ambassador was in June 2019, after a Chinese vessel sank a Filipino fishing boat at Reed Bank and left the crew at sea, the foreign affairs department said.
Nine vessels were still at the reef as of Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr said, citing a government agency. It was not clear if the other ships had left the area completely or had merely dispersed elsewhere within the Philippine EEZ.
“Time to go,” he wrote on Twitter. “While it may well be traditional [Chinese] fishing grounds, tradition yields to law.”
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Philippines sounds alarm over 200 Chinese ships in the South China Sea
Locsin last week warned that Manila would file a diplomatic protest every day that the vessels continued to linger at the Whitsun, also known by the Philippines as the Julian Felipe Reef.