By Priam Nepomuceno
MANILA – The Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will stop any Chinese entitlement over Batanes, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said.
“We will prevent it as much as to our utmost ability. We will prevent it at alalahanin natin ( and we must remember) that it is also an international strategic waterway, which (is) a global concern,” he said in an online briefing Wednesday
This, as China earlier asserted its jurisdiction over Batanes following the Philippine Coast Guard’s successful effort in driving away a Chinese research vessel in the island’s waters.
Meanwhile, Teodoro said he will only resume military-to-military communications with China if the latter stops its “predatory” activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and other waters within the Philippines’ jurisdiction.
“They must prove sincerity. I mean, all their actions now, from their messaging to the messaging of their assertion of undisputed sovereignty and jurisdiction over areas where they have no rights to do so. They must turn back from that because there is no basis whatsoever in international law and in UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas). They must stop their predatory activities in the Pacific and in the WPS, which is a threat to regional and global security,” he said.
Teodoro ordered the suspension of military-to-military communication with China in 2023 following insinuations of “new model” arrangement in the WPS.
He said suspending communication with China is logical since it is the AFP’s duty to uphold the 2016 Arbitral Award, which explicitly stated that China’s 9-Dash-Line is fiction.
“It is directly contrary to our sovereign interests, which the (AFP) sworn to protect and to uphold,” he said.
He also questioned China’s renewed interest for military-to-military communication with the Philippines, noting that the country has no joint operations with the Chinese nor even a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement. (PNA)
