Philippine diplomats yesterday confronted their Chinese counterparts in closed-door talks with a slew of protests over China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, including targeting a Philippine coast guard ship with a military-grade laser, but no major resolution was reached on the issues, an official said.
Territorial disputes in the busy waterway have long loomed as a potential flashpoint in Asia and have become a sensitive front in the regional rivalry between China and the US.
Washington lays no claims in the contested waters, but has challenged Beijing’s extensive claims including by deploying its warships and fighter jets and repeatedly warning that it would help defend the Philippines — a treaty ally — if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft were to be attacked. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, while Beijing claims it virtually in its entirety.
Photo: REUTERS
A Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong (孫衛東) held two days of talks starting on Thursday with Philippine counterparts led by Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Theresa Lazaro and reviewed overall relations.
On the second day, the two sides focused on their territorial disputes, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The talks opened with both sides citing an agreement between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who made a state visit to China in early January, to manage the territorial conflicts amicably while enhancing economic ties and other aspects of a nearly half-century of diplomatic relations.
“We should not allow specific differences to define our bilateral relations or allow certain disputes to stand in the way of overall cooperation,” Sun said in an opening speech before journalists were asked to leave the meeting room. “We need to properly deal with these issues through friendly consultations.”
A Philippine official involved in the talks said that their country’s diplomats outlined several incidents underscoring China’s assertiveness in the disputed waters in the closed-door talks.
That included a Feb. 6 incident in which a Chinese coast guard ship aimed a military-grade laser that briefly blinded some crew members of a Philippine patrol vessel off a disputed shoal.
The Chinese representatives responded mostly by reiterating Beijing’s claim of sovereignty in most of the South China Sea, where they said that Philippine vessels had intruded, the official said.
Some “practical cooperation agreements” were proposed to prevent a further escalation of the disputes, but those still needed to be vetted by other Philippine officials, the official said without providing other details.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss what transpired in the meetings.
Shortly after the laser incident, the foreign affairs department condemned the Chinese coast guard’s action and sent a strongly worded protest to the Chinese embassy in Manila.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS