Tolentino downplays heightened WPS tension

Senator Francis Tolentino on Sunday allayed concerns about the quadrilateral naval drills in the West Philippine Sea between the Philippines, Japan, Australia and the United States.

According to Tolentino, who chairs the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones, the maritime cooperative activity of the four nations in the country’s exclusive economic zone would actually ensure stability in the region.

“To [sic] the contrary, this would ensure stability in the region, China is not being provoked but being made to realize that peace and stability in the region are likewise to serve their interests,” he told reporters.

On Sunday morning, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China announced its holding of a joint naval and air patrol in the South China Sea, coinciding with the MCA of the four countries.

“The Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command organized a joint naval and air strategic patrol in the South China Sea on 7 April,” the Chinese army said in a statement.

In an apparent swipe at the ongoing naval drills of the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia in the same sea, China stressed that “all military activities disrupting the South China Sea situation and creating buzzes are under control.”

China claims the vast South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, which is well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected Beijing’s historical claims in the West Philippine Sea and favored Manila’s sovereign rights in the area.

China claims a vast swathe of the South China Sea through a controversial “nine-dash line,” which it expanded by adding another dash, including areas close to the Philippines’ coastline.

The Philippines contests Beijing’s overarching claim, arguing that parts of the sea fall within its exclusive economic zone — an area where it has rights to resources.

In 2016, the Philippines won a legal case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague, but China rejected the ruling.