Philippine President Benigno Aquino III yesterday denied reports he had asked the US for spy planes to monitor a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Aquino told reporters that his country had its own ships and aircraft to keep an eye on the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) and that he had merely mentioned in an interview that US aircraft could be called upon for help if needed.
“If you will go through the transcript of the interview, I said: ‘We might’ [ask for US help],” he said.
Photo: EPA
“That is where [the interviewers] suddenly introduced the supposed request for overflights, which wasn’t what I stated,” he said.
Aides said Aquino had made the remarks during an interview with a foreign news agency on Monday.
Subsequent reports of the president’s alleged requests for US spy planes raised concerns within China, with the country warning the Philippines against provocation over the three-month standoff between the two countries.
“Let us correct that. America is a treaty ally. Where we are lacking in capacity, I think we can go to them and ask that they increase [our] situational awareness,” Aquino said yesterday.
The shoal stand-off began in April when Chinese vessels prevented the Philippine navy from arresting Chinese fishermen encroaching on what the Filipinos claim is a part of their country’s territory.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to the coasts of its neighbors.
In addition to the whole of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines also claims parts of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙島). It says the shoal is well within its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone.
Taiwan also claims part of the Spratlys.
Aquino yesterday said that the Philippines had withdrawn its own ships from the shoal almost three weeks ago, but Chinese ships were still in the area.
“If their vessels had also gone home ... there would be no more issue. So who is prolonging the issue?” he said.
“There are a lot of things being said by the other side. Maybe they need to balance their statements with the truth,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Philippines announced yesterday that it had filed a diplomatic protest with China over Beijing’s establishment of a new prefecture called “Sansha” to administer disputed territories in the South China Sea.
Philippine Foreign Ministry spokesman Raul Hernandez said Sansha’s establishment violated Manila’s claim to the Scarborough Shoal and parts of the Spratlys, and the continental shelf and waters off the country’s western coast.
He told reporters the ministry was awaiting the Chinese government’s response to the protest.
Vietnam has also protested China’s action because of its claims to several islands and islets..
China’s Cabinet approved the establishment of Sansha last month to administer three major island groups in the South China Sea and the surrounding waters, with the government seat to be based in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan also lays claim to.
Hernandez said Beijing’s decision contradicted a non-aggression accord signed by China and ASEAN in 2002 to prevent the territorial disputes from turning violent.
Additional reporting by AP
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS