By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday said it does not expect Chinese vessels to harass a civilian-led sail to Thitu Island in the South China Sea, but it will deploy ships to prevent incidents at sea.
“I’m not just optimistic that such harassment will not happen, but logically they’re not going to do that,” PCG spokesman Jay Tristan Tarriela told a news briefing. “Our deployment is not because we are expecting an aggressive response from the Chinese Coast Guard.”
Harassing the M/V Kapitan Felix Oca, which will carry civilians to Philippine-occupied Thitu Island (Pag-asa Island) would draw international condemnation and lead to reputational costs for Beijing, he added.
The PCG will send its 97-meter BRP Melchora Aquino and 44-meter BRP Malapascua to escort the Atin Ito (This is Ours) civilian contingent, which will hold a sea concert on Thitu in the Spratlys.
The Philippines has a military outpost on Thitu Island and a small Filipino community has lived there since 1971.
Tensions between Manila and Beijing flared again last week after a Chinese coast guard ship used a water cannon on a Philippine civilian ship and bumped against it at Sandy Cay, which is near Thitu Island.
China claims nearly all of the potentially mineral- and oil-rich South China Sea based on a 1940s nine-dash line map that overlaps with the exclusive waters of the Philippines and neighbors like Vietnam and Malaysia.
A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 voided China’s sweeping claims for being illegal, a ruling that Beijing does not recognize.
Chinese vessels would likely try to block the Philippine civilian ship from reaching Thitu Island, Mr. Tarriela said. “Every time they do this, the reaction that we see from China is they increase their deployment of maritime forces… to break their spirit and maybe block the convoy.”
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.
Confrontations between Manila and Beijing near other disputed features have involved the use of water cannons and sideswipes by Chinese vessels on Philippine ships. The Philippines has condemned such acts as aggressive and unlawful, while China insists its actions are meant to defend its sovereignty.
The PCG will “recalibrate” its deployment of ships supporting the civilian mission to prevent raising tensions, Mr. Tarriela said.
“Sometimes what happens is our coast guard vessels become a magnet for Chinese coast guard vessels,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “If the China Coast Guard will try to get near the Philippine Coast Guard vessels… we will stay farther from the civilian ship.”
“But in the instance that the China Coast Guard will veer close to the civilian ship and appear to block it, that’s the time the Philippine Coast Guard will go near to ensure that no incident will happen between the Atin Ito and Chinese vessels,” he added.
