by Ding Duo
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- On Aug. 19, two Philippine coast guard vessels, without permission from the Chinese government, intruded into the adjacent waters of Xianbin Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao.
In disregard of China Coast Guard's dissuasion and warning, they acted dangerously by deliberately ramming the China Coast Guard vessel that was carrying out law enforcement operation. China Coast Guard took necessary measures in accordance with domestic and international law, and its maneuvers at the scene were professional, restrained and appropriate.
Since April this year, a Philippine coast guard vessel, MRRV-9701, has been unlawfully anchored at Xianbin Jiao. Recently, Manila has also dispatched some fisheries administration ships and fishing boats to intrude into Chinese waters. As pointed out by relevant Chinese authorities, the Philippines' behavior seriously violated China's sovereignty and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea, posing a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
Xianbin Jiao is an uninhabited reef in China's Nansha Qundao. The reef covers more than 80 square kilometers, which is greater than Ren'ai Jiao, where the Philippines illegally grounded a warship. The central part of the reef is a lagoon with a maximum depth of more than 30 meters. Except for a small number of sandbanks and reefs above the water surface in the western part, all other reef flats are submerged.
China Coast Guard vessels are constantly on patrol in the area. The reef and its surrounding waters are also a traditional fishing ground for Chinese fishermen, who have been engaged in fisheries production for a long time. Since the outcropping reef resembles fish scales, Chinese fishermen called it "yulin"(fish scale). In the early 1990s, China also temporarily built stilt houses on the reef and dispatched personnel to conduct scientific research.
The Philippines has been hyping up Xianbin Jiao before it dispatched the coast guard vessel MRRV-9701 to illegally encroach on the reef. In order to mislead the international community, it has deliberately slandered China's activities and disseminated a lot of disinformation. For example, it claimed that China intended to carry out land reclamation and building on Xianbin Jiao, and that the MRRV-9701 vessel is stationed in the lagoon to monitor Chinese coast guard and fishermen.
Considering that the MRRV-9701's supply can last no more than 20 days, the Philippines has been rotating personnel and providing material supplies through another smaller patrol ship. In the past four months, in addition to the personnel rotation and material supplies, Manila also held a flag-raising ceremony on board and brought "marine scientists" and reporters to Xianbin Jiao. Philippine personnel also interfered with the marine scientific work of China in the west part of the reef.
The images released by the China Coast Guard clearly showed that the Philippine side not only supplied many daily necessities to the MRRV-9701, but also used cranes to transfer large packages suspected of containing concrete and other construction materials. The purpose of this move is clear. First, the Philippines uses the MRRV-9701 as a transit point to deliver construction materials to the warship that is grounded at Ren'ai Jiao, in the hope of doing so at midnight unnoticed to the China Coast Guard. Second, the Philippines is trying to gain de facto control of the reef by long-term berthing of the MRRV-9701. In Manila's scheme, the MRRV-9701 could also serve as a transit station for other official ships and fishing boats. If the MRRV-9701 does not leave, more Philippine fishing boats will flock to the water area to "fish".
Behind these actions is the Philippines' goal to encroach on China's territory. Manila has long been trying to occupy Chinese islands and reefs in the Nansha Qundao, with various cover-ups and excuses. Encouraged by the U.S. Biden administration, Manila's South China Sea policy is becoming more adventurous and speculative. Following the illegal ruling of the South China Sea arbitration, the Philippines has been attempting to justify its illegal claims in the South China Sea.
China will not allow the Philippines to do whatever it wants on Xianbin Jiao. The interaction and confrontation between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea issue over the past two years have also fully proved that Manila will never achieve its goal, whether it adopts the so-called gray zone strategy at sea, the so-called exposure strategy in public opinion, or it promotes compulsory arbitration on environmental issues at the legal aspect. No matter how the Philippines stirs up trouble at Xianbin Jiao, it will not overwhelm China's effective response and disposal capabilities.
The Philippines' move also violates the DOC. The fifth paragraph of the DOC provides that the parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability including, among others, refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features and to handle their differences in a constructive manner. Xianbin Jiao falls within the scope of "uninhabited features" of this provision.
As an ASEAN member, the Philippines participated in the DOC's entire consultation process. As a result, it should know exactly what the obligations under the fifth paragraph of the DOC are. Without rigorous application, the values of DOC will be undermined and eroded. In this regard, China's countermeasures against the Philippines' violation of the fifth paragraph relating to Xianbin Jiao stem not only from the need to safeguard its territorial sovereignty, but also from the need to maintain the seriousness and authority of the DOC. Enditem
(Editor's note: Ding Duo is an associate research fellow of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, based in south China's Hainan Province.)