AFP mum on China declaration on sea claim

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) kept mum yesterday on China’s recent pronouncement that it is ruling out the use of force in pursuit of its maritime claim in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

Maj. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr., AFP spokesman, said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is the proper agency to respond to the statement issued by Chinese President Xi Jinping that China would always use peaceful means in pursuing its goals, including settling maritime disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

“We have adopted a whole government approach concerning this issue and it’s only the DFA that can respond to this particular statement,” Tutaan said.

China, while declaring that it wanted a peaceful settlement of the South China sea dispute with other claimant countries, is also aggressively and continuously advancing its claim and has already occupied at least four reefs in the disputed areas.

This has further raised tension in the region, with Taiwan now planning to deploy armed warships in the Taiwanese-occupied Itu Aba Island.

Aside from the four reefs that Beijing is now transforming into a tourism area as well as air and naval forward bases, it has also fortified its naval posts at Panginiban (Mischief) Reef and at Subi Reef.

This is the reason why a senior security official is not ready to accept Xi’s statement delivered before the Australian parliament, describing this as double talk.

Xi has declared that neither turbulence nor war serves the fundamental interests of the Chinese people, adding that there’s only one trend in today’s world and that is the trend of peace and development and win-win cooperation.

The security official, however, said that Xi’s statement was contrary to what is happening in the Spratlys, where China has deployed its warships and coast guard vessels in support of its continuing creeping invasion of the Philippines’ maritime territorial domain.

“Their ships are out there, harassing our fishermen and also trying to dislodge our troops out of Ayungin Shoal. Is that a trend towards peace?” a military official who asked not to be named said.

Ayungin Shoal, a vital sea-lane towards the Philippine-held Pag-Asa island in the Spratlys, is currently guarded by a contingent of Marines stationed on a grounded Philippine Navy (PN) logistic vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre.