A recently signed agreement would open a direct line of communication between China’s and the Philippines’ presidential offices to try and prevent any new confrontation from spiraling out of control in the disputed South China Sea, according to highlights of the accord seen by The Associated Press (AP) yesterday.
China and the Philippines have forged such emergency telephone hotlines at lower levels of their bureaucracies in the past to better manage their disputes, particularly in two fiercely disputed shoals where the Philippines has accused Chinese forces of increasingly hostile actions and China says Philippine ships have encroached despite repeated warnings.
However, the territorial face-offs have persisted uncontrollably in the past year, sparking fears of a larger armed conflict.
Photo: AFP
Chinese and Philippine officials dealing with the territorial disputes held crucial talks in Manila on July 2, following a violent confrontation in the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙).
Both sides “recognized the need to strengthen the bilateral maritime communication mechanism on the South China Sea” and signed an arrangement “on improving Philippines-China maritime communication mechanisms,” the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement after the talks in Manila, but did not provide a copy or details of the agreement.
A copy of the highlights of the agreement seen by the AP said it “provides several channels for communication between the Philippines and China, specifically on maritime issues, through the representatives to be designated by their leaders.”
Philippine officials were “in discussions with the Chinese side on the guidelines that will govern the implementation of this arrangement,” it said, without elaborating.
There was also a plan to set up a new communication channel between the Chinese and Philippine coast guards “once the corresponding memorandum of understanding” between them is concluded, the agreement said.
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