West Philippine Sea tension illustrated in laser-pointing incident – Germany

MANILA, Philippines — The recent laser pointing incident in the Ayungin Shoal involving a Chinese coast guard ship and a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on a resupply mission has demonstrated the “dangerous geopolitical tensions” confronting the Philippines, according to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

“Your beautiful country finds itself in a region with dangerous geopolitical tensions that might explode at any given moment and what that means in practical terms was illustrated recently during an incident involving a Chinese military grade laser,” Baerbock said in a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo following their meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

“What might sound like science fiction to us has quite a different very real meaning for you,” she said.

Manalo said he exchanged views with Baerbock on regional issues including the West Philippine Sea and the Ukraine crisis.

“In our bilateral exchange earlier, you made it very clear that even your fishermen cannot just go about their business without any disruptions but that there are influences exerted upon them time and again,” Baerbock stated.

According to Baerbock, it’s the Indo-Pacific that would likely decide the international order of the 21st century.

She explained that every assertion of maritime claims is first and foremost in the framework of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Manalo said the Philippines remains committed to diplomacy and dialogue for peaceful resolution of disputes in spite of China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.

“On the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines remains committed to diplomacy and dialogue in resolving our disputes and this in spite of recent actions or even actions which have been going on for some time which are inconsistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 Declaration on a Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC),” Manalo said.

Germany, he noted, continues to support the principles enshrined in the UNCLOS and has backed negotiations and efforts being done between ASEAN and China for the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, “all in the context of ensuring and having a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

In discussions on “Defending the United Nations Charter and the Rules-Based International Order” over the weekend, Manalo said the Philippines confronts incidents of harassment and land reclamation almost on a daily basis.

Baerbock also said Germany intends to expand cooperation with the Philippines in the field of qualified and skilled labor.

She noted that Germany is the most important trading partner of the Philippines in the European Union.

There are about 1,000 skilled and qualified personnel from the Philippines working in Germany, she said.

“As I said, we value the expertise of the qualifications of these people. Their support has been very enriching for many people also on a personal level,” she added.

The federal government is working on a new law on immigration to attract skilled labor and ensure equal conditions and standards.

In January, German Ambassador Anke Reiffenstuel said Germany was not pirating Filipino nursing students.

The ambassador denied that her country was pirating students to fill the nursing shortage, saying Germany’s Triple Win Project (TWP), a landmark government-to-government agreement signed by both countries in 2013 for the recruitment of qualified nurses, is a big success.

Germany works closely with Philippine schools, colleges and agencies in its recruitment efforts.

The Triple Win nursing project is a project of German organizations for recruitment of nursing professionals from non-European Union (EU) states for the German health care and nursing sector.

Since 2013, Germany has recruited more than 4,300 nurses from the Philippines, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Tunisia under its Triple Win framework.