Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26) — The Philippines must band together with other nations to rally “international pressure” on China’ for its continuing illegal acts in the West Philippine Sea, an expert said on Friday.
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Executive Director Gregory Poling said the Duterte administration should reconsider its strategy of being warm to China since the East Asian giant has not stopped its incursions in Philippine waters, including the refusal of nearly 200 vessels suspected to be Chinese maritime militia to leave Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea. He said the Philippines has not sought help from other nations since Duterte has been in office, but believes it is now the time to do so.
“The Philippines has not really asked for support for the West Philippine Sea issue for the last five years. It is now quite clear that Beijing has not responded positively to President Duterte’s pro-China policy,” he told CNN Philippines.
If the Philippines can find allies in the United States, United Kingdom, and even India, the country’s neighbors in southeast Asia may be empowered to speak up and put “international pressure” on China, he added. Poling said that southeast Asian countries are opting to stay silent due to worries of upsetting China over an issue they believe won’t be resolved. But that may change once the Philippines finds allies in powerful nations.
“That’s going to have to start with the Philippines’ western allies. Get the Europeans to speak out more, maybe the Indians, and then smaller countries in Southeast Asia may feel bold enough to follow suit,” he said.
Poling added, “China must be called out for this kind of illegal behavior and be treated as the rogue actor that it really is, in the same way Russia, Iran, Syria have been treated for past violations, otherwise China will continue to behave this way because it pays no price for it internationally.”
The US, UK, Australia, Japan, and Canada are just some of the countries that have expressed support for the Philippines as it protested the presence of more than 200 Chinese fishing and maritime vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, in the West Philippine Sea. It is part of the vast area being claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea but the reef lies within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
For now, Poling strongly believes that the 183 Chinese vessels that remain stationed in the Julian Felipe Reef are not fishing boats as claimed by China, saying the country will continue to gaslight the international community regarding its illegal acts. He also isn’t convinced that they will leave Philippine waters anytime soon, based on China’s track record of presence in the Spratly Islands.
Should China be believed that the vessels at the reef are merely fishing boats, maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said Beijing can still be held liable.
“China has admitted that is conducting fishing in the Philippine EEZ without our permission, then what is happening is China is sponsoring illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing in Philippine waters. That is an offense under international law so this could be something that can be pursued in international fora,” he told CNN Philippines in a separate interview.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs on March 21 sent a diplomatic protest and demanded that China “promptly withdraw” its vessels from the country’s exclusive economic zone, while the Armed Forces deployed more naval units to the area.
