By Chen Xiaoru
Over the past half month, Philippine warplanes flew over the waters around the Niu’e reef in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken accused the so-called “Chinese maritime militia” of gathering around the Niu’e reef and Philippine Defense Secretary also expressed a tough stand over this issue. All of these signaled that the tension over the Niu’e reef between China and the Philippines once again heated up. Some even conjectured that the reef spat might cause military conflicts between the two countries.
In response, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a statement on this issue for the first time for about two weeks, saying that it will not impact Philippines-China relations.
“We will continue to resolve the issues through diplomatic channels and through peaceful means.Whatever differences we have with China will not define our bilateral relations. ” Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said at an online press conference on April 6, reading a statement from the president on the “presence of over 200 Chinese ships in the area”.
As reported by the Philippine News Agency on April 6, Roque said that President Duterte believes any differences between the Philippines and China will not change their relationship, and the issue will neither affect the positive trend of bilateral relations nor hamper the two countries’ cooperation in areas like pandemic control.
Since President Duterte took office, the Philippine government has constantly expressed a willingness to conduct peaceful cooperation with China. The two sides have reached a consensus on joint exploration in the South China Sea. However, the Niu’e reef issue that has recently arisen between the two countries is closely associated with the hyping-up moves by pro-West forces in the Philippine government, especially the military. The most representative figure is Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
This issue was evoked by a piece of news released by Manila on March 20, saying that the Philippine Coast Guard found over 200 Chinese vessels gathering in waters around the Niu’e reef, about 320 kilometers west of Palawan Island in the South China Sea, on March 7. The following day, Lorenzana said in a statement that more than 200 “militia-controlled Chinese fishing vessels illegally moored” in that area, calling this “a provocation against the Philippines”, despite the fact that Niu'e reef is part of China's Nansha Islands and the waters around the reef are a traditional fishing ground for Chinese fishermen.
On March 22, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines issued a statement on its official website, noting that Niu'e Reef is a part of China's Nansha Islands. "Chinese fishing vessels have been fishing in its adjacent waters for many years. Recently, some Chinese fishing vessels take shelter near Niu'e Jiao (Reef) due to rough sea conditions. It has been a normal practice for Chinese fishing vessels to take shelter under such circumstances. There is no Chinese Maritime Militia as alleged. Any speculation in such helps nothing but causes unnecessary irritation. It is hoped that the situation could be handled in an objective and rational manner ," the statement said.
However, Lorenzana refused to accept the Chinese statement and continued to hype the matter of the Niu’e reef. In a subsequent statement, he demanded Chinese vessels to leave the area.
On April 3, Lorenzana told the media that at least 44 Chinese vessels were still moored in waters around the Niu’e reef while the sea conditions have greatly improved.
On April 5, Lorenzana said that the Philippine Navy would carry out a new round of patrol to check if the remaining Chinese vessels have left.
It seemed that Lorenzana has long prepared to hype the matter of the Niu’e reef. According to a report by the Philippine News Agency on March 29, when interviewed by CNN, Lorenzana announced that a Coast Guard ship might be stationed off the Niu’e reef to perform the sensitive mission to monitor Chinese vessels, and a naval ship may await orders at a farther location to support the Coast Guard ship. He added that the Philippine military is considering a suggestion to copy what was previously done in Ren’ai reef where a Philippine naval landing ship was deliberately ran aground for occupation.
At present, China and the Philippines are working together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 29, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the Philippine government from China arrived at the Villamor Air Base in Manila. Before that, China donated two batches of vaccines to the Philippines on February 28 and March 24, respectively, helping the country start inoculations against COVID-19. In this context, why did Lorenzana and some others in the Philippine government still hype up the matter of the Niu’e reef?
First, the Philippines will kick off its general election in the second half of this year, and the tenure of President Duterte will end next year. It remains uncertain whether he will be re-elected. Therefore, some Philippine politicians aspire to earn greater domestic support by hyping up the South China Sea issue for the upcoming general election. Philippine officials expressed different voices on the matter of the Niu’e reef, which is probably an internal strategy.
Second, after US President Joe Biden took office in January this year, the US may redefine its relationship with the Philippines. The Philippine government, especially the traditional pro-American military is eager to make clear the Biden administration’s policy toward the South China Sea issue. That US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan committed the “applicability” of the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty in the South China Sea was probably a goal for the Philippines who hyped up the matter of the Niu’e reef.
Third, 2021 is the last and crucial year for the negotiations of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. Currently, China and ASEAN are negotiating on specific contents of the COC, and the negotiation is planned to be completed by the end of this year. Despite their differences, reaching a binding COC meets the expectations of all parties. In this context, some people in the Philippines hyped up the matter of the Niu’e reef, perhaps just for earning more bargaining chips in the COC negotiation. A clear understanding of the true intentions of the Philippine side is conducive to stepping up the COC negotiations.
Editor’s note: This article is originally published on cyol.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
