Escoda Shoal not a ‘new flashpoint’ -- Navy

The Philippine Navy is still not considering the Escoda (Sabina) Shoal as the new flashpoint of further tension between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea, a ranking military official said on Tuesday.

Navy spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad maintained China was only advancing its illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions in the disputed waters in WPS.

“Sabina or Escoda Shoal is not a new flashpoint,” Trinidad said, despite the recent collision incidents between Philippine Coast Guard and Chinese ships at the shoal last Monday, noting that it was “the first in recent memory.”

Trinidad lamented that China’s People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), Coast Guard (CCG), and maritime militia vessels are the “cause of all the dynamics in the WPS.”

“All of the actions of the PLAN, the CCG, and the maritime militia will be below the threshold of conflict. It will not reach the point that they will initiate escalation to the point of conflict,” said Trinidad in the briefing at Camp Crame.

“All their actions will be an interplay of the different instruments of national power, diplomatic, informational, legal, all the other instruments to include the military wherein they would like to win without firing a shot. That is Chinese warfighting thought,” he added.

Meanwhile, newly designated National Maritime Council (NMC) spokesperson Alexander Lopez stressed that the Philippines will remain committed to upholding its rights and jurisdiction in the WPS.

Lopez said the Philippines will continue conducting routine maritime activities in protection and defense of the country’s territorial integrity despite the recent incident at Escoda Shoal.

“The Philippines expresses serious concern over the deliberate harassment and infringement by China against Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” Lopez told reporters on Tuesday.