If there is nothing to hide

It didn’t take long for Cabinet members to come to the defense of China regarding the supposed dumping of human waste by the many Chinese militia ships anchored in several areas within our Exclusive Economic Zone. This was revealed by the US geospatial firm Simularity based on satellite photos and Chlorophyll-a content in the said waters. Both secretaries of defense and foreign affairs labeled Simularity's findings as fake news, citing a photo used which was actually a ship anchored off the Australian Great Barrier Reef in 2014. We can only imagine what the colorful DFA secretary had to say to Simularity.

Simularity stated the picture in question was for illustrative purposes to show how ships disposed of their waste, and not an exact example of what the Chinese ships were actually doing. Just the same, Secretary Lorenzana "directed the Western Command who has jurisdiction over the WPS to verify and investigate." It would be interesting to note the only way to get a sample of the waters around the ships is to get close to them. Something I doubt the Chinese will allow.

But the report of Simularity shouldn't be that surprising as to elicit a defensive statement. These ships have loitered the area almost for months on end. It makes sense the crew will not store their waste on board. They will eventually dispose of them in the most convenient place, the ocean. One can just imagine the total number of people aboard all those ships. The food they will consume, digest, and get rid of.

China didn’t take Simularity's report well. It called the report "a big joke". Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the company was "fabricating facts, violating professional ethics and spreading rumors about China." What else are we to expect from Beijing? For years the country has been lamenting the ecological destruction brought about by the artificial islands, overfishing, and harvesting of giant clams. Yet nothing has been done to address these issues since Beijing will not cooperate, operating on the premise the whole ocean belongs to them.

Simularity stands by its report and welcomes an investigation to confirm or disprove its findings. A water sample of the surrounding area where most of the ships are anchored should suffice but will be a challenge to the Western Command considering the Chinese' attitude to any ships approaching their area. If Beijing has nothing to hide, if it truly is a joke, then it should allow samples to be taken anywhere.