Daven Tamayo

Chinese envoy says China, PH keen on finding solutions over Ayungin incident

Article (news)

Zen Hernandez

ABS-CBN News

<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2079560214479806801&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2026-07-21T16%3A42%3A36.863169%3Ad5c02f11-90ba-4f99-9572-dd8e8075507b%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=c1163a5b156de4af5e2a36933c0472f9392aa9cb&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:624px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="2079560214479806801"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan to Malacañang on Tuesday, a day after another confrontation at Ayungin Shoal left a Filipino servicemember injured.Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jing described his discussion with the President as &quot;very constructive,&quot; saying it focused on broader issues affecting bilateral relations beyond Monday&#x27;s incident.&quot;It&#x27;s not a kind of diplomatic protest and a demarche, pointing fingers to each other, exchange of very strong words against each other... It&#x27;s a very useful, constructive kind of in-depth exchange of views,” Jing said.He said both sides focused on finding solutions rather than assigning blame.According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the confrontation began after a China Coast Guard (CCG) rigid-hull inflatable boat approached the BRP Sierra Madre and circled the grounded warship while taking photos and videos, prompting two AFP rubber boats to move in and drive it away &quot;calmly and non-confrontationally.&quot;The AFP said CCG personnel then struck a Philippine Navy servicemember on the head with a wooden baton, causing injury, and damaged one of the Navy&#x27;s rubber boats.Jing, however, disputed the AFP&#x27;s account, saying the confrontation began after Chinese personnel observed what Beijing believed to be construction work aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, which he said violated the spirit of the provisional arrangement governing Philippine resupply missions.&quot;They&#x27;re building some kind of barrier nets, and they&#x27;re, you know, doing some kind of construction work in the ship. So we sent two boats to check what happened. Yeah, they&#x27;re taking photos. What happened? Because that&#x27;s against the spirit of our provisional agreement. That is no new construction, keep the status quo,&quot; he said.The Philippines and China have maintained a &quot;provisional understanding&quot; on rotation and resupply (RORE) missions to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal since July 2024. The arrangement was intended to de-escalate tensions and allow routine humanitarian resupply without prejudice to either country&#x27;s maritime claims. However, both governments have kept details confidential.As of this writing, the Philippine government has not confirmed China&#x27;s assertion that the arrangement prohibits repairs or construction aboard the grounded warship.Earlier Tuesday, China&#x27;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said it had also “urgently&quot; summoned the Philippine ambassador in Beijing, accusing Manila of &quot;deliberate provocation and attack&quot; against China Coast Guard personnel at Ren&#x27;ai Reef, China&#x27;s name for Ayungin Shoal.The ministry claimed Philippine personnel had &quot;dangerously approached and rammed&quot; CCG vessels and &quot;maliciously harassed and attacked&quot; Chinese law enforcement personnel. It also demanded that the Philippines &quot;immediately cease its provocations and stop its incitement and hype,&quot; adding that it would &quot;take measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.&quot;Despite the latest confrontation, Jing said both countries remain committed to concluding negotiations on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea before the end of the year.&quot;We share the same goal,&quot; he said.Asked whether the Ayungin incident could derail the negotiations, Jing replied, &quot;I don&#x27;t think so,&quot; adding that both sides&#x27; willingness to complete the Code of Conduct &quot;has not changed.&quot;Jing, however, reiterated that Beijing would not agree to a COC that incorporates the 2016 Arbitral Award.Meanwhile, the United States condemned China&#x27;s actions and reaffirmed its support for the Philippines and the landmark arbitral ruling.In a statement, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott called on Beijing to immediately cease what he described as its &quot;destabilizing conduct.&quot; He also cited the 2016 Arbitral Award, saying China&#x27;s expansive maritime claims &quot;have no basis in international law&quot; and reiterating that the decision is &quot;final and legally binding on both China and the Philippines.&quot;U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton likewise said China&#x27;s actions &quot;threaten regional stability&quot; and &quot;stand in sharp contrast to Philippine forces&#x27; professionalism and discipline.&quot;He also joined the Philippines in calling on China&#x27;s Navy, Coast Guard and maritime militia to stop what Manila describes as its &quot;illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions&quot; in the South China Sea.For its part, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said &quot;any act of violence against Filipino personnel is unacceptable and will merit the appropriate diplomatic action.&quot;&quot;The DFA is committed to upholding the safety and well-being of Filipino personnel in BRP Sierra Madre who are lawfully performing their duties,&quot; it said in a statement.Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro also confirmed that she raised the Ayungin Shoal incident during Tuesday&#x27;s ASEAN Foreign Ministers&#x27; Meeting.&quot;I was the one who presented it as part of the discussion because everybody has read it, it&#x27;s all in the newspapers,&quot; Lazaro told reporters.She said the other foreign ministers did not respond because &quot;everything&#x27;s still being discussed between the two parties.&quot;Lazaro added that discussions among ASEAN foreign ministers largely focused on negotiations for a COC between ASEAN and China.The AFP, meanwhile, reiterated that the Philippine Navy acted in accordance with the Rules of Engagement while carrying out a lawful mission within the Philippines&#x27; exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It also said it remains committed to protecting the country&#x27;s sovereign rights and will continue its lawful presence and sustainment operations at Ayungin Shoal despite the latest incident.The Department of National Defense (DND) likewise commended the professionalism of Philippine troops and vowed to strengthen the country&#x27;s deterrence, alliances and defense of its maritime rights, declaring that it &quot;will not back down.&quot;

Jing described his discussion with the President as "very constructive," saying it focused on broader issues affecting bilateral relations beyond Monday's incident.

Jing described his discussion with the President as "very constructive," saying it focused on broader issues affecting bilateral relations beyond Monday's incident.