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Chinese embassy in Philippines raises five questions in refuting Manila's denial of 'agreements' on South China Sea issue

Global Times

By Global Times Published: May 05, 2024 12:36 PM

After several senior Philippine officials denied that the Marcos administration had negotiated with China to reach "arrangements" on the Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef), the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines raised five questions, emphasizing that China has consistently been committed to managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, maintaining dialogue with the Philippines in a responsible manner, and reaching internal understandings and arrangements on multiple occasions.

The Philippines has repeatedly denied recently that China and the Philippines had reached "agreements" on the South China Sea issue.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro stated that since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in 2022, the Philippine Defense Department is "not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China."

Philippine National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Año also said that there is "no agreement whatsoever" in Ren'ai Jiao between the Philippines and China, saying that this "new model" announced by the Chinese side is nothing more than a new invention, according to the agency.

China has always adhered to a policy of dialogue and consultation to properly manage maritime disputes between China and the Philippines and has made unremitting efforts in this regard, the Chinese embassy said in a statement published on its website on Saturday.

The "gentleman's agreement" is a specific result of these efforts. In accordance with the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries on cooling down the maritime situation, China and the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines reached the "new model" over Ren'ai Jiao through repeated negotiations earlier this year.

The arrangement is a confidence-building measure aimed at managing differences, avoiding conflicts, and maintaining peace, irrespective of each other's sovereignty positions, the embassy said.

The Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has repeatedly confirmed that the "new model" has been approved by all key figures in the Philippine command chain, including the Defense Minister and the National Security Advisor.

China has detailed and complete records of the communication and negotiation process mentioned above. With both sides broadly adhering to the "new model," the Philippines successfully completed a resupply operation on February 2, as announced by a Philippine military spokesperson on social media.

China appreciates the positive efforts made by the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the embassy said.

China has always attached great importance to communication and dialogue with Philippine national defense and military authorities. In fact, on July 5, 2023, Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian exchanged views with Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. on China-Philippines military relations, maritime issues and so on, during their meeting at the Philippine Department of National Defense, and briefed him on the relevant situation of the "gentleman's agreement."

Both the Philippine Department of National Defense and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines websites published the news of the meeting, the embassy said.

The above are facts, not narratives. China has consistently been committed to managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, maintaining dialogue and communication with the Philippines in a responsible manner, and reaching internal understandings and arrangements on multiple occasions, the embassy said.

The Chinese embassy put five questions to the Philippines: what confuses us is why the Marcos administration repeatedly denies having negotiated with China to reach understandings and arrangements on Ren'ai Jiao? Why does the Philippine Department of National Defense refuse to engage in dialogue and negotiation with China to properly handle maritime disputes? The "new model" has been proven to be effective in managing differences and avoiding conflicts, why has the current Philippine government unilaterally abandoned it after being put into practice only once? Who made the decision to betray the "new model"? Does managing differences and avoiding conflicts go against the interests of certain forces?