Philippines, China to establish direct lines to ease tensions over sea row
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will be signing a communication agreement with China "to avoid miscalculation and miscommunication" in the West Philippine Sea.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are expected to sign the agreement to handle matters involving the disputed waters during President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s state visit to China next week.
“Both sides have agreed to sign an agreement establishing communication, direct communication between the foreign ministries of both countries at various levels,” Nathaniel Imperial, assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of Foreign Affairs, said in a press briefing on Thursday.
China continues to ignore the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling in 2016 that invalidated Beijing’s so-called nine-dash line over the disputed waters and provided that certain sea areas are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
On the 6th anniversary of the ruling this year, Beijing insisted that it is "illegal, null, and void" and that it "seriously violates international law."
There have been reports of Chinese vessels shadowing and challenging Philippine vessels whenever in the West Philippine Sea on top of Chinese officials imposing regulations over waters they do not have jurisdiction over.
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While Manila has filed hundreds of diplomatic protests since 2016 and nearly 200 notes verbale this year, Marcos Jr. still wants to expand the scope of the country’s bilateral relations with China beyond the sea dispute.
Pacific Forum International Director of Cybersecurity and Critical Technologies Mark Manantan previously told Philstar.com that the country should be able to manage separate issues of foreign security, defense, and economic interests when dealing with China.
READ: Philippines ‘concerned’ over report on China’s construction activities in Spratlys
Marcos Jr.’s state visit to China is scheduled for next week, January 3 to 5. The chief executive is slated to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 4, where the two leaders will also continue their discussions on a possible joint oil and gas exploration deal in the disputed waters.
However, the DFA refrained from discussing further on how Marcos Jr. will approach his counterpart to discuss the West Philippine Sea — but it has been said that the chief executive will bring it up — especially with recent reports of China ramping up its construction activities in unoccupied parts of the Spratly Islands.
"We do not wish to preempt or second guess what the president will say to his but the president will raise important issues affecting our bilateral relations, among them the issue on the West Philippine Sea so we we can't say how specific the discussions will be," Imperial said.
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