China’s sea incursions part of broader provocation – US

MANILA, Philippines — The United States sees China’s latest aggressive incursions in the West Philippine Sea, including the installation of buoys and fish nets blocking a Philippine resupply mission for Filipino soldiers guarding Ayungin Shoal, as part of a broader trend of provocations by Beijing against claimants.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the US supports the Philippines in calling for China to “end” its provocative actions in the West Philippine Sea and respect international law in the South China Sea.

“We share the Philippines’ concerns regarding the PRC (People’s Republic of China)’s provocative actions interfering with Philippine sovereign rights within the Philippine exclusive economic zone near Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal and massing vessels near Whitsun Reef,” Price said in a statement over the weekend.

The US, Manila’s most vocal partner in reaffirming the 2016 Arbitral Award, said it will continue to stand by the historic South China Sea ruling.

“The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in upholding the rules-based international order and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, as guaranteed under international law,” Price stated.

The DFA announced on June 9, coinciding with the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, that it protested the return of over 100 Chinese vessels illegally operating in the waters in and around Julian Felipe Reef on April 4, 2022, barely a year after a similar swarming incident was protested by the Philippine government.

On June 11, the DFA said a new diplomatic protest was filed against China over its maritime activities within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

It was the second diplomatic protest by the DFA that same week in addition to more than 300 complaints filed against Beijing’s “illegal” activities in the South China Sea.

China engaged in “illegal fishing” while Chinese coast guard vessels shadowed Philippine boats on a resupply mission around its shoal.

The Philippines called on China to comply with its obligations under international law, cease and desist from displaying illegal and irresponsible behavior, avoid further escalating tensions at sea, and immediately withdraw all of its vessels from Philippine maritime zones.

During her visit in Manila, the US No. 2 diplomat said the Philippines has been a leader and champion for upholding freedom of navigation in the South China Sea in the face of increasing encroachments.

“The United States remains committed to standing with the government of the Philippines to uphold the rules and laws underpinning the international maritime order, and we have spoken up against infringements of the Philippines’ sovereign rights,” Sherman said.

In a landmark ruling on July 12, 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration found no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to a “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, and Beijing had breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines, which brought the case.