President Aquino on Friday said the government had filed a protest with the Chinese embassy, demanding an explanation from Beijing over the incident at the Reed Bank, which officials said was clearly within Philippine territory.

The President said a “Spratlys expert” was also headed to China to discuss the issue with Chinese officials.

The military deployed two warplanes to the area last Wednesday after the oil exploration vessel contracted by the Department of Energy radioed for help, saying it was being approached by two Chinese patrol boats.

The Chinese vessels later left without a confrontation, said Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, head of the military’s Western Command.

When the planes reached the area, the foreign vessels had left, said Sabban.

“It’s clearly our territory. If they’ll bully us, well, even children will fight back,” he said.

‘Our territory’

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Friday stressed that the incident occurred within Philippine territory and the government was seeking an explanation from the Chinese.

“That is our territory. We ascertained that is within our territory,” the foreign secretary said.

“We are asking our Chinese friends [for] an explanation and we are in dialogue with them. I would prefer that we leave it at that,” he told a news briefing in Malacañang.

Nansha or Spratlys?

Ethan Sun, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy, did not comment directly on the incident, saying only that the mission was taking note of the reports.

But he insisted China had sovereignty over the disputed area, called the Nansha islands by the Chinese and Spratly islands
by everyone else.

“I want to point out that since historical times China has had indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha islands and their adjacent waters,” Sun said.

Sun said he hoped the matter would be discussed through negotiations.

“China has been consistently sticking to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. The Chinese side maintains that the related disputes should be resolved through peaceful negotiations,” Sun added.

The Spratly islands, a reputedly oil-rich chain of tiny islands and reefs in the South China Sea, are claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Mr. Aquino said what he wanted was to “de-escalate” the situation.

He said an unarmed Philippine Coast Guard patrol ship has been deployed to secure the oil exploration vessel, which would resume its activity at the Reed Bank.

“The Coast Guard will ensure that our rights are protected by making sure that this survey ship granted authority by our government finishes its job,” he said.

Asked if the government would ask Beijing to apologize, he said: “If I will answer that, we will encourage the situation where they will have to say things publicly. I will have to respond.”

“We will be driven by our respective publics not to talk to each other. And I don’t think anybody wants that,” he said.

Approached threateningly

The vast sea area where the incident happened lies 250 kilometers west of the southwestern province of Palawan. The Reed Bank is part of the Kalayaan island group in the Spratly chain that is claimed by the Philippines.

A Philippine military official said the Chinese boats maneuvered close at least twice, apparently trying to show that they would ram the Philippine vessel, only to turn away when they got close.

They did not fire any warning shot and later moved away, said the official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The military said the Chinese patrol boats ordered the Philippine vessel to leave. But it said the patrol boats themselves eventually moved on when the planes arrived in the area.

Sabban said he deployed an OV-10 bomber plane and an Islander light aircraft to the Reed Bank after the Philippine ship radioed his command.

When the planes reached the area, the foreign vessels had left, he said.

The Philippine Navy on Friday said it has sent additional ships to the Kalayaan group which is considered a municipality of Palawan.

Defensive posture

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, the Navy Flag Officer in Command, said the military is taking a defensive posture to discourage similar incidents, but was leaving all discussions of the Reed Bank incident to the country’s diplomats.

“We did not initiate that (incident). It was the other side who did. We are just taking a posture that would more or less discourage them from doing the same thing,” he said.

Whether it would happen again, he said, that would depend on discussions at the diplomatic level.

“We have augmented our patrol ships, it’s up to the Western Command how to direct them,” Pama said.

Potential flash point

Aside from its potential oil deposits, the Spratly archipelago has rich fishing grounds and straddles busy sea lanes that are a crucial conduit for oil and other resources fueling China’s fast-expanding economy and those of other Asian nations. It has long been regarded as a potential flash point for conflict in Asia.

Beijing reacted with fury in 2010 when US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told an Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional security forum in Vietnam that the peaceful resolution of disputes over the Spratly and Paracel island groups was in the US national interest.

Beijing said Washington was interfering in an Asian regional issue.

The United States worries the disputes could hurt access to one of the world’s busiest commercial sea lanes.

Unrelated to death row OFWs

Del Rosario said he sees no connection between asking for an explanation from the Chinese over the incident and the government’s attempts to obtain clemency for several hundred Filipinos currently in death row in China.

He said the government will continue to ask for clemency for the Filipinos facing execution in China while, at the same time, ask for an explanation from the Chinese on the conduct of their citizens in the Philippines such as in the case of last Wednesday’s incident.

“I don’t know where that information is coming from but from where I sit I see no connection. We’re still in the process and we will continue to be in the process of seeking clemency for people who had received capital punishment sentences,” Del Rosario said.

“The policy of this government is that we will seek clemency to the very last minute. It has nothing to do with anything else,” he added.

Jerome Aning, Norman Bordadora, Phil. Daily Inquirer