Following the recent incident at the South China Sea, the Philippine government, again, summoned Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian to discuss the “dangerous maneuvers” made by Chinese vessels that led to two collision incidents off Ayungin Shoal over the weekend.
"We are making full use of diplomatic processes and are exercising all possible actions available to us, that includes summoning the Chinese ambassador this morning," Foreign Affairs spokesman Teresita Daza said in a press conference on Monday.
Since Huang was out of town, the diplomatic protest was then handed to Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong by Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Aileen Mendiola-Rau in a meeting on Monday morning.
Daza, again, echoed the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea.
"Ayungin Shoal is part of our exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, and we have sovereign rights and jurisdiction over it," Daza said. "Therefore, as we did in the past, we intend to clearly convey our position that we have every right, under UNCLOS, to carry out legitimate activities in our maritime zones, and that we do not accept any form of interference."
On Sunday morning, the National Task Force For the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) released a statement stating that the China Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese Maritime Militia executed "dangerous maneuvers" that "resulted in collisions" during the AFP's latest RORE mission to BRP Sierra Madre that is grounded in Ayungin Shoal.
A day after the incident, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. convened security authorities in a command conference to discuss the matter.
