PH gov’t files protest vs China’s intrusion

MANILA, Philippines—The government on Wednesday said it has formally protested to Beijing recent Chinese military activity in the disputed Spratly island group, including the reported unloading of building materials and the erection of posts well within Philippine territory.

The Chinese Embassy charges d’affaires was summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday, to hear the government’s “serious concerns” over actions by the Chinese military in the area, the department said on Wednesday.

The DFA said it had “requested clarification from the Chinese embassy on the recent sightings of a China Marine Surveillance vessel and other People’s Liberation Army Navy ships in the vicinity of the Iroquois Reef-Amy Douglas Bank in the West Philippine Sea.”

It said it was acting on information from the Philippine military which reported that the Chinese vessels had “unloaded building materials, erected an undetermined number of posts, and placed a buoy near the breaker of the Amy Douglas Bank.”

“Any new construction by China in the vicinity of the uninhabited Amy Douglas Bank is a clear violation of the 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a statement.

The DFA said the posts and buoy were well within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone.

The posts and buoy were about 26 nautical miles east of Patag (Flat) Island, one of the outcrops in the Spratlys occupied by the Philippines.