Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17) — Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian on Friday pushed for stronger dialogue mechanisms between Manila and Beijing as he cited the “lack of communication” among authorities following the fresh maritime incident in Ayungin Shoal.
“I believe there are two main reasons for [this] happening. The first is the lack of communication between the maritime-related authorities and law enforcement agencies. And two, a lack of mutual understanding and trust between the frontliners at sea,” Huang said in his speech at an event in New Era University in Quezon City.
“Miscommunication leads to misunderstanding and misunderstanding leads to misjudgments,” he added.
Huang discussed the Feb. 6 incident in the West Philippine Sea, which involved the coast guards of both countries, but has sparked conflicting narratives from the two governments.
According to Philippine authorities, a Chinese Coast Guard ship pointed a military grade laser at a Philippine Coast Guard vessel while the latter was on its way to send supplies to military personnel in Ayungin Shoal.
China, however, denied this, saying its coast guard only used a hand-held laser speed detector and green light pointer for “navigation safety.”
In a separate media conference, Huang assured that officials of both countries have been holding discussions on the matter, including looking at ways to prevent such event from happening again.
He also underscored the need to beef up the existing communication mechanisms between the Philippines and China.
“We have newly-established hotline between our two ministers of foreign affairs, and we activated the communication mechanism between our two coast guards. And we are also exploring some new more communication mechanisms,” Huang noted.
The ambassador also proposed to have a channel between the Philippine and Chinese navies and defense agencies, but did not detail further.
The Philippine government has already filed a diplomatic protest against the East Asian giant over the incident, which has also prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to summon Huang earlier this week.
Huang said their discussion had been “fruitful and constructive.”
