MANILA, Philippines — The government should protest China’s establishment of two new districts to govern the Paracels and Spratlys in the South China Sea, former foreign affairs chief Albert del Rosario said yesterday.
The announcement by the Chinese ministry of civil affairs on April 18 on the establishment of new districts in the disputed waters came at a time when the world was busy addressing the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The announcement came in the wake of the ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese vessel, and China’s establishment of two research stations on its artificial islands in Fiery Cross and Subi reefs.
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“These recent events in the South China Sea remind us Filipinos to be eternally vigilant in the defense of our country’s territory and sovereign rights even as we confront a very grave threat as COVID-19,” Del Rosario said. “As we struggle against a pandemic that poses a real threat to our lives, we must not also risk losing our national patrimony upheld by international law and meant for present and future generations of Filipinos,” he said.
“China has been relentless in exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic,” he pointed out.
The former foreign affairs chief said China continues to pursue its illegal and expansive claims in the South China Sea to the prejudice of Filipinos, the ASEAN states and the international community as a whole.
“We therefore respectfully urge our government to protest this recent action of China, as it rightly did over the sinking of the Vietnamese fishing boat on April 8, 2020,” Del Rosario said in a statement issued on Sunday evening.
Vietnam has filed an official protest against Beijing over the sinking of its fishing boat by a Chinese coast guard ship.
“In these trying times, we also respectfully urge the Chinese leadership to uphold global unity and mutual trust, and not to engage in needless provocations that may only be seen as abusive and may worsen the situation currently being confronted by the world,” he said.
China’s Paracel administration will be based on Woody Island, called Yongxing Island by Beijing, while the Spratly administration will be placed in Fiery Cross Reef, which the Chinese call Yongshu Reef.
On April 8, the Philippines expressed deep concern over the reported sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the South China Sea by China.
The coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.