中文
By Ding Duo
On August 30, China released a report on the coral reef ecosystem at Xianbin Jiao in its Nansha Qundao, which is not only a direct manifestation of China's exercise of territorial sovereignty and administration over Nansha Qundao, but also indicates that China is fulfilling its obligations under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The report not only provides a scientific basis and guidance for China to carry out targeted marine governance activities in Nansha Qundao, helping protect its marine environment, but also indicates that the Philippines' claims, such as "China's artificial accumulation of coral debris at Xianbin Jiao has led to widespread coral bleaching and death in the area," are completely baseless and lack any scientific or factual foundation. Since May this year, the Philippines has continued to hype up tensions over Xianbin Jiao. In addition to the quasi-grounding of the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), some official vessels and a small number of organized fishing vessels of the Philippines have violated China's territorial sovereignty and continue to provoke.
At the same time, the Philippine Coast Guard, the National Security Council, and the West Philippine Sea Task Force have deliberately smeared China's activities and released disinformation, including the alleged destruction of the marine ecological environment by Chinese fishermen and China's land reclamation at the reef, in an attempt to mislead the international community.
In December last year, the Philippines also said that it was building acoast guard station on an island to improve "monitoring" the movements of the Chinese coast guard and fishermen. Behind these actions is the ambition of the Philippines to try to encroach on Chinese territory. Xianbin Jiao is not the territory of the Philippines. The territory of the Philippines is defined by a series of international treaties, including the 1898 Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain (the Treaty of Paris), the 1900 Treaty between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain for Cession of Outlying Islands of Philippines (the Treaty of Washington), and the 1930 Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain Regarding the Boundary between the Philippine Archipelago and the State of North Borneo.
China has territorial sovereignty over Nansha Qundao as a unit, of which the geographical scope is clear. When the Philippines designated some islands and reefs of China's Nansha Qundao and large areas of their surrounding waters as "Kalayaan Island Group," China immediately pointed out, and has maintained the position, that the "Kalayaan Island Group" is in fact part of China's Nansha Qundao by law.
The Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) that has been anchoring in the lagoon of Xianbin Jiao for a long time are now running out of supplies. Under the tight control of the China Coast Guard, recent attempts by the Philippines to use small coast guard boats, fishing boats and other official vessels to replenish the BRP Sierra Madre have unsurprisingly failed.
Although currently the sea conditions in the waters of Xianbin Jiao are complex because of strong winds and waves, China still takes effective control measures against the Philippines. On August 28, the Philippine Coast Guard used a helicopter to airdrop supplies, which was gambling with the lives of frontline personnel. The use of a helicopter to airdrop necessities under adverse weather conditions may easily end as a tragedy of the craft crashing into the sea or hitting the BRP Sierra Madre vessel, threatening the safety of Chinese ships and personnel.
Regarding the Philippine delivery of supplies to the Coast Guard vessel, the Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Samuel Paparo recently declared that under the premise of consultation between the United States and the Philippines, U.S. ships can escort Philippine ships carrying out replenishment missions in the South China Sea. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro claimed that the Philippine-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty needed to be interpreted more broadly to tackle a "dynamic and cunning adversary." Such remarks once again exposed the Philippines' impulse to further escalate frictions at the instigation of the U.S.
The U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty is a product of the Cold War. The purpose of the U.S.'s reference to the implementation of the treaty is clear: to encourage the Philippines to constantly provoke China in the South China Sea and to maintain the stability of the U.S.-Philippine alliance. But such an approach by the U.S. would certainly not frighten China.
There are territorial disputes between many countries in Southeast Asia, not just China and the Philippines, but most countries are trying to seek common ground while reserving differences, with the ultimate goal of maintaining regional peace. China and the Philippines should find a solution acceptable to both sides, rather than instigate worse bilateral relations and escalating an already tense situation.
Ding Duo, a special commentator for CGTN, is the deputy director and an associate research fellow of the Research Center for Ocean Law and Policy at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
