The Philippines revealed “deep concern” Wednesday over a Chinese coast guard ship’s supposed sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in the challenged South China Sea recently, as Manila signed up with Hanoi and Washington in slamming Beijing over the occurrence.

The Philippine foreign office provided what it called a “statement of solidarity” with Hanoi. The declaration rebuked Beijing for the occurrence in waters near the Paracel Islands– which both China and Vietnam claim. It explained the sinking as a “provocation” amidst a global crisis around the COVID-19 break out.

Manila “values the maintenance of peace and stability” in the South China Sea, and violence in the maritime area efficiently “undermines the potential of a genuinely deep and trusting regional relationship” in between the 10- country Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) and China, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs stated.

“There is never a good time to indulge in provocations,” the declaration stated. “They usually end in defeat of aggression or a devastating price of victory.”

“But it is always a good time to rise in the defense and affirmation of our respective sovereignties and in the peace and stability of our region especially in a time of pandemic,” the department added.

The declaration likewise prompted all plaintiffs to the tactical sea area to keep “good behavior.”

China declares most of the possibly mineral-rich South China Sea, consisting of locations that reach the coasts of its smaller sized next-door neighbors and are part of their particular special financial zones. The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan likewise have overlapping claims in the sea.

Vietnam’s federal government implicated the China Coast Guard (CCG) of sinking the fishing boat near the Paracels on April 2, and has actually lodged an official demonstration with Beijing.

“The Chinese vessel committed an act that violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa,” a spokesperson for Hanoi’s foreign ministry stated on April 3, utilizing the Vietnamese name for the Paracels, “and threatened the lives and damaged the property and legitimate interest of Vietnamese fishermen.”

The Chinese, for their part, claim that the Vietnamese boat sank itself after ramming a CCG ship.

“In the early hours of April 2, the Vietnamese fishing vessel QNg 90617 illegally entered the waters of the Xisha islands to engage in fishing activities,” a release from the coast guard stated, utilizing the Chinese name for the Paracel islands.

“It sank after hitting China Coast Guard 4301. All eight crew members were rescued by our coast guard,” the declaration stated, describing the coast guard ship by its number.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department slammed China over the occurrence, providing a declaration stating this was “the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea.”

‘Our own similar experience’

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has actually attempted not to annoy China considering that taking office in2016 He has actually stated that his nation might not protect itself effectively versus the Asian superpower in the case of aggressiveness or war.

In 2015, a Chinese trawler rammed into a Filipino fishing boat near Recto Bank in the challenged area, leaving 22 anglers adrift at sea for hours prior to a death Vietnamese boat saved them.

At the time Duterte came under extreme domestic pressure to object the occurrence. The president later on stated there was absolutely nothing he might do versus China.

Wednesday’s declaration from the foreign office indicated how the sinking of the Philippine boat had actually produced fractures in Sino-Philippine relations.

“Our own similar experience revealed how much trust in a friendship is lost by it, and how much trust was created by Vietnam’s humanitarian act of directly saving the lives of our Filipino fishermen,” the department stated.

“We have not stopped and will not stop thanking Vietnam,” its declaration added, keeping in mind that this was the main reason it was providing the “statement of solidarity.”

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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