AFP to China: Reject Batanes claim, warns silence has effects
MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday called on the Chinese Embassy in Manila and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publicly reject a claim by Chinese scholars that. . .
MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday called on the Chinese Embassy in Manila and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publicly reject a claim by Chinese scholars that Batanes is part of Taiwan and, by extension, China, warning that Beijing’s continued silence could allow the assertion to become an official government position. AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad (Reserve) said the military “categorically dismisses and rejects” the scholars’ claim, describing it as an attempt at “malign influence” and “salami slicing in the information domain. ”READ:Chinese scholars’ Batanes claim has no basis, ‘a joke’ – TeodoroArticle continues after this advertisement“In an autocratic state, nothing happens in isolation,” Trinidad said in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. FEATURED STORIESGLOBALNATIONGLOBALNATIONGLOBALNATIONHe said the remarks by the Chinese academics could be viewed as a “Track 2” (unofficial diplomacy) initiative that, if left unchallenged by Chinese authorities, could eventually evolve into an official party position. “Without any pushback, this will become the official party stand,” Trinidad said. “It is very important that statements like this should be answered not only by the embassy but by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ”Asked whether the Chinese Embassy’s failure to respond to media queries was alarming, Trinidad said Beijing should clarify its position if it does not endorse the academics’ assertion. “They should give out a statement on that,” he said. Article continues after this advertisementDespite the controversial claim, Trinidad said the AFP has not monitored any recent increase in Chinese military or coast guard activity around Batanes linked to the statement. “So far there have been no monitored changes in the posture of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Navy or the Chinese Coast Guard over Batanes,” he said. Article continues after this advertisementREAD:Teodoro on Chinese scholars’ Batanes claim: It’s a jokeHe noted, however, that Chinese research vessels have periodically traversed waters near Batanes over the past three years using what he described as “illegal tracks. ”These incidents, he said, have been monitored and challenged by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. “It is too early to say if they are related to the claim by the academics,” Trinidad said. The spokesperson also stressed that the military had already strengthened its presence in Batanes and other northern islands before the academics’ remarks as part of the Armed Forces’ Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which shifts the military’s focus toward external defense. “Long before this false claim came out, the AFP had already heightened its posture all over the country with an outward-looking posture,” Trinidad said. He reiterated that the Philippines’ territory is clearly defined under the Constitution and that defending it remains the AFP’s mandate. “The national territory is clearly delineated in our Constitution. It is our mandate to ensure the integrity of the national territory,” he said. The scholars from Jinan University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing University and other research institutions took part in the June 30 symposium at Jinan University in Guangzhou, according to a report published on July 2 by newsgd. com. The news outlet is part of a media group that is owned and controlled by the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The symposium followed the recent Japan-Philippines summit, which reaffirmed closer security and maritime cooperation between the two countries. The report said the Chinese scholars “uniformly determined” that a move by Tokyo and Manila to delimit their maritime borders was “a grave violation of international law and infringes upon China’s legitimate sovereignty in the waters. ”The Chinese academics said that the Philippines had no historical or legal basis for administering Batanes as the islands were a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan, giving the People’s Republic of China sovereignty over the province. Neither the report nor public statements from Chinese authorities indicated that Beijing has formally asserted sovereignty over Batanes. Batanes is comprised of 10 islands separated from Taiwan by the narrow Bashi Channel, a passageway between the West Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Its population of around 19,000 relies mainly on livestock raising, farming and fishing. Beijing considers Taiwan, a self-governing island since 1949, a breakaway province which China has vowed to retake. Trinidad also defended the Philippines’ approach to the West Philippine Sea dispute, saying China—not the Philippines—has been responsible for regional tensions through what he described as coercive and aggressive actions. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. He said the 2016 arbitral ruling invalidating China’s expansive South China Sea claims remains the legal foundation for Philippine operations in the West Philippine Sea, with the AFP continuing to anchor its actions on the landmark decision and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. /jpv