Zubiri

Solons denounce Chinese Navy’s ‘laser-pointing’ in WPS

February 15, 2023 Camille P. Balagtas 297 views

SENATORS denounced the action of Chinese forces in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) revealed that the Chinese Navy aimed a “military-grade” laser on a PCG vessel near the Ayungin Shoal.

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri condemned this move, insisting that we should protest this kind of provocation.

“We stand completely behind our Coast Guard and we protest vigorously against the continued provocations of the Chinese Navy in the West Philippine Sea,” said Zubiri.

“This is not the first time our troops have been harassed by Chinese forces on our waters, so we strongly appeal to the Embassy of China and to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cease all their aggressive intimidation tactics.”

Last December, Zubiri also called China out for one of their vessels aggressively pursuing a small contingent of the Philippine Navy in WPS.

The Chinese vessel proceeded to forcibly seize from the Philippine Navy a scrap of unidentified debris suspected to be from a Chinese rocket launch.

The Senate adopted a resolution condemning this incident.

“We completely condemn not only this latest incident with the military-grade laser but the repeated incidents of harassment on our waters,” Zubiri emphasized.

“We will not tolerate this, and we will continue to support our Navy and Coast Guard as they defend our waters,” the Senate chief maintained.

Sen. Jose Jinggoy Estrada said this kind of intimidation tactic should be “condemned in the international community.”

“We condemn this latest intimidation tactic employed by the Chinese Coast Guard against members of the Philippine Coast Guard on a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy in Ayungin Shoal. Their act, which reportedly caused temporary blindness to the crew members, is loathsome as it put them in harm’s way and jeopardized their safety. This provocative action should be stopped. We urge the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to lodge a diplomatic protest and stand firm in defending the country’s sovereign rights under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” Estrada pointed out.

He added: “Hindi kailanman katanggap-tanggap ang mga gawain na panghahamak sa ating pagka-Pilipino at paglagay sa panganib ang kapakanan ng ating Sandatahang Lakas at PCG.”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros expressed the same sentiment as other senators saying this must not be tolerated as she maintained that this move against our Navy and Coast Guard should not cow us.

Hontiveros said any justification for this kind of move is not acceptable.

“China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is lying. It cannot claim that the Chinese Coast Guard ship acted in accordance with international law, when the 2016 arbitral tribunal that ruled against China’s baseless 9-dash-line claim was constituted precisely under the UNCLOS,” Hontiveros said.

“Maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na ang Ayungin Shoal ay teritoryo ng Pilipinas. Hindi yan sa Tsina. Huwag nila tawagin ng Tsinong pangalan. Ayungin is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The UNCLOS affirms this. The wider international community recognizes this. It is only China’s authoritarian government that seems to think otherwise,” the lady senator said.

She also urged the need to stand up for what is ours and what is right amid the “bullying” treatment that our navy and coast guard officers are getting from the Chinese Coast Guard.