The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Thursday belied President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s claim that the so-called "gentleman’s agreement" between former President Rodrigo Duterte and President Xi Jinping was a secret.
“During the previous administration of the Philippines, our two sides reached a gentleman’s agreement on the Ren’ai Jiao issue. The agreement was on managing the situation on the ground, maintaining peace, and preventing conflicts. It had nothing to do with our respective sovereign positions,” the embassy said in a statement.
China refers to Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, located 105 nautical miles west of Palawan, as Ren’ai Jiao.
“The agreement is no secret in that relevant departments and agencies of our two sides had worked under its guidance, effectively maintaining peace and stability at Ren’ai Jiao until early February 2023, or seven months into the incumbent Philippine administration,” it added.
It emphasized that since the start of the Marcos administration, the Chinese side has “repeatedly briefed this administration on matters related to the gentleman’s agreement, made representations regarding the Ren’ai Jiao issue, and remained committed to exploring ways of managing the differences through dialogue and consultation with the Philippine side.”
Marcos, on various occasions, had repeatedly tagged his predecessor’s agreement with China as a “secret deal.”
Before departing for the US-Philippines-Japan trilateral leaders summit last week, he took an apparent swipe at the deal between Duterte and Xi.
Marcos said he was “horrified” to learn about the gentleman’s agreement between the Duterte administration and China, demanding both sides to explain the rationale behind the deal.
Earlier this week, he declared that Duterte’s “secret deal” with China was being rescinded.
To recall, Duterte’s former mouthpiece, Harry Roque, revealed that the former chief executive had entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” with China to maintain the status quo in the West Philippine Sea.
Roque said the agreement, which was not in writing, was that the Chinese Coast Guard would not stop the delivery of supplies to the country’s troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre as long as the supply was limited to food and water.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy said a “new model” between the Philippines and China was agreed on to “properly manage” the situation in Ayungin Shoal.
It noted that this was discussed during the meetings of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea last September, which was attended by Marcos’s special envoy to China.
The embassy said the series of meetings resulted in an “internal understanding.”
“A ‘new model’ for management of the Ren’ai Jiao situation was agreed upon by both sides early this year after rounds of serious communications with the Philippine military,” it said.
“Regrettably, only one round of a resupply mission was carried out within the realm of these understandings and arrangements before they were unilaterally abandoned by the Philippine side for no good reason,” it added.
It continued: “China once again urges the Philippines to honor its commitments and consensus with China, show sincerity, stop provocations, return to the right track of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, and work with the Chinese side to properly manage the situation at Ren’ai Jiao and safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
When pressed for further details regarding the purported "new model," the embassy declined to provide any information.
DAILY TRIBUNE had sought comments from the DFA regarding the "new model," but it had yet to issue a statement as of press time.
