A Chinese survey ship, which entered Philippine waters for the second time over the past year without authorisation, has left the country, but observers are increasingly alarmed over the intrusions, amid confusing statements on why it was in the country’s seas.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr confirmed the incident through social media on Tuesday, writing that the government “never gave permission” for the research vessel, Jia Geng, to stay in Philippine waters.
He said that his department only approved a “request for shelter” from the Chinese embassy due to “bad weather”.
Officials from different Philippine agencies, however, gave conflicting accounts of when the ship entered the country’s territory.
endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30) The Chinese government has asserted anew its sweeping claims to the South China Sea, which the new U.S. administration rejected during a conversation with the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, Jr.
In a phone conversation this week, newly installed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Locsin that America continues to oppose China’s maritime claims, saying these go beyond what is permitted in international law, and promised to “stand with Southeast Asian claimants in the face of PRC (People s Republic of China) pressure.”
The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Saturday shared its spokesperson’s response to Blinken’s remarks.
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Sputnik International
Any suggestion that the departure of former US President Donald Trump from Washington would provide a temporary pause in US-China tensions has been swiftly dispelled.
Any suggestion that the departure of former US President Donald Trump from Washington would provide a temporary pause in US-China tensions has been swiftly dispelled.