Metro Manila, Philippines – The Philippines does not need China’s permission to conduct resupply missions or sail to Ayungin Shoal, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday, June 23, rejecting Beijing’s interpretation of the provisional arrangement governing resupply operations to the BRP Sierra Madre.
In a statement, the DFA said Ayungin Shoal lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 South China Sea arbitral ruling.
“As a low-tide elevation, Ayungin generates no maritime entitlement of its own and cannot be claimed by any other state,” the DFA said.
“The Philippines alone holds the sovereign right to authorize any structure there, and Philippine vessels do not require permission to sail to Ayungin,” it said.
The statement came two days after Chinese Ambassador Ambassador Jing Quan, said Beijing expects both sides to implement the provisional understanding and claimed it prohibits new construction and changes to the status of the permanently marooned BRP Sierra Madre.
Jing said Chinese vessels approached the area during the July 20 incident because they believed Philippine personnel were carrying out “some kind of extraction work” and constructing barrier nets near the Sierra Madre.
“We hope that both sides will follow the spirit of the agreement. No new construction, no change of the status quo,” Jing told reporters on Tuesday.
The ambassador maintained that the arrangement remains a temporary agreement and said, “We will see what happens next.”
The DFA, however, said the provisional understanding was never intended to require Philippine approval from China for routine rotation and resupply missions.
“It is not a grant of or a request for permission to any foreign government, it does not recognize any foreign jurisdiction over Philippine waters, and was agreed on the express understanding that it does not prejudice national positions,” the department said.
It added that the arrangement does not permit China to board or inspect Philippine vessels and “does not concede the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction.”
The DFA reiterated that the Philippines’ legal position under UNCLOS and the 2016 arbitral award “remains unchanged and non-negotiable.”
The statement follows a new confrontation at Ayungin Shoal on July 20, during which the Armed Forces of the Philippines said China Coast Guard personnel struck a Philippine Navy sailor with a wooden baton after approaching Philippine boats near the BRP Sierra Madre. The incident prompted Manila to lodge a diplomatic protest, while Beijing accused Philippine vessels of ramming a Chinese coast guard ship.
