China dropped an explosive revelation that the Philippines committed to removing BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal back in 1999.

During Monday’s regular presser of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, he reiterated the Philippines’ failure to honor its commitment to China.

“The Philippines tries to hide the fact that it has broken its promise to China, violated China’s sovereignty, and has kept provoking China. This is the only viable explanation for the Philippines’ string of false accusations against China,” Wang said.

“The truth on the Ren’ai Jiao issue is that the Philippines went back on its word. It made a serious promise to tow away its illegally grounded warship, but 25 years on, the Philippine vessel is still there,” he added.

The Chinese call the Philippines’ Ayungin Shoal Ren’ai Jiao.

China has consistently asserted that the Philippines had committed to remove the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era landing ship tank deliberately grounded on Ayungin in 1999, from the shoal.

However, no details were provided regarding this supposed promise until today, leading to further speculation about who from the Philippine side had agreed to such a commitment.

‘1999’

The camp of former President Joseph Estrada, whose administration spanned from 1998 to 2001, has denied that he made the deal with China.

His sons, Senators Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada, took separate opportunities to emphasize that their father was not the one who purportedly assured China that the Philippines would remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal.

Ejercito said he could not recall any such commitment made by his father.

“It was former President Joseph Estrada who ordered that the BRP Sierra Madre be placed on Ayungin Shoal in 1999 as a symbol of our sovereignty and to mark our territory,” he said in a statement.

His half-brother, Estrada, said it would have been “illogical” for their father to order the removal of the ship since he was the one who ordered it grounded on Ayungin.

“I think it is quite illogical, to me, if former president Estrada ordered the grounding of the BRP Sierra Madre and at the same time committed to removing the ship at any time,” he said.

Permanent station

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said the vessel was deployed to Ayungin Shoal to become a permanent station in response to China’s illegal occupation of Panganiban Reef in 1995.

Estrada’s successor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, also denied brokering the deal with China.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denied the Philippine government made such a promise to China, asserting that he would rescind any commitment should there be one between the two countries to remove the vessel.

What is the promise?

According to Wang, the so-called promise made by the Philippines was that it would “not reinforce the grounded warship and will inform China in advance of resupply plans.”

“Out of humanitarian considerations, China made special provisional arrangements for Philippine vessels sending living necessities to the warship quite a few times,” he said.

“However, the Philippines refused to honor its promise and made attempts to send construction materials for large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship in order to permanently occupy Ren’ai Jiao,” he said.

He said the Philippines violated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which was signed jointly by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Article 5 of the DoC stipulates that the parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability, including, among other things, refraining from the action of inhabiting the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features,” he said.

“Ren’ai Jiao is uninhabited. Parties should maintain its state of hosting zero personnel and facilities,” he added.

He also flagged the Philippines’ plan to set up a permanent structure on Ayungin Shoal and the recent exploration by Filipino scientists on Sandy Cay, which China refers to as Tiexian Jiao.

“The Philippines, backed by external forces, has been going back on its word and making provocations. This is the real cause of the current tensions at sea,” Wang said.

“Nothing will hide the truth; no one should turn black to white. The Philippines needs to immediately stop violating China’s sovereignty and provocations and return to observing the spirit of the DoC,” he added. “China will not waver in its resolve to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”