MANILA, Philippines — Contrary to its pronouncements, China is averse to dialogue as it continues its harassment of Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea, Sen. JV Ejercito said yesterday as he clapped back at the Chinese embassy for accusing him of “poisoning” Manila-Beijing ties with his stinging criticism of China’s maritime bullying.
“It is outright wrong for China to claim to be ‘properly managing maritime differences through dialogue and consultation.’ When it is, in fact, harassing our operations within our exclusive economic zone,” Ejercito said in a statement on Thursday.
In a statement on Dec. 20, the Chinese embassy lashed out at Ejercito for stating that China is funding a disinformation network to advance its agenda in the region, especially for the West Philippine Sea.
The embassy, through its spokesperson, said Ejercito is among the politicians using the West Philippine Sea issue to “poison” diplomatic ties between the Philippines and China.
“In the past few months, some Filipino politicians and officials, out of political self-interests, repeatedly dramatized and hyped up maritime differences between China and the Philippines, aiming at smearing and demonizing China and silencing the advocates of China-Philippines friendship,” the embassy said.
The embassy denied Ejercito’s claim that China was funding trolls to sow division among Filipinos on the South China Sea dispute.
“The allegation that China is tapping and funding Filipinos to destabilize the Philippines is categorically false and baseless. Who fabricated and provided such vicious intelligence reports? Out of what motivation?” the embassy said.
In response, the senator said China should adhere to the 2016 ruling of the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, which invalidated its massive claim in the South China Sea and reaffirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements.
“I urge China to halt President Xi Jinping’s expansionist policies to prevent potential conflicts,” Ejercito said.
“The bottomline is to respect Philippine sovereignty and leave our territorial waters alone!” he added.
Backchannel talks
Ejercito’s Senate colleague Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, urged the government to continue backchannel talks with China to defuse tensions.
At a virtual press briefing, Gatchalian cited as a diplomatic approach the phone call on Wednesday between Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
But in that phone call, the Chinese foreign minister warned his Filipino counterpart of repercussions “if the Philippine side misjudges the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles.” A Xinhua report quoted the foreign minister as saying that “China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely.”
Manalo, for his part, described the phone call as a “frank and candid exchange,” saying in a statement on Thursday that the two parties “ended our call with a clearer understanding of our respective positions on a number of issues.”
“Backchanneling is another diplomatic mechanism, where there are ways forward that can be resolved without a lot of external comments or pressure,” Gatchalian said.
Diplomats should be able to resolve maritime spats, such as the China Coast Guard’s dangerous maneuvers and use of water cannons against Philippine ships on resupply missions for fisherfolk and for troops stationed on remote outposts in the West Philippine Sea, Gatchalian said. Reactions from the Philippines only serve to anger China, he added.
“Statements reported by the media only please the audience, but do not resolve the issue. These only satisfy the cravings of our audience, but there is no solution on how to move forward,” Gatchalian said.
“Backchannelling can be more frank and open, and also more personal on that note. I believe we can resolve many things by just talking quietly and by understanding one another,” he said.