China to PH on sea row: 'Meet us halfway' --- By Bernadette E. Tamayo --- Manila Times

CHINA has accused the United States (US) of rallying its allies to sensationalize the South China Sea (SCS) row as it expressed hope that Manila meets Beijing "halfway" to resolve their maritime dispute peacefully. Through its embassy in Manila, China on Tuesday said the SCS is not a "hunting ground for countries outside the region to meddle with, sow discord and provoke conflicts." Australia, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the US have expressed concern over the Aug. 5 water bombing by the China Coast Guard of Philippine vessels on a resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). China "stands ready" to continue to properly handle maritime issues with the Philippines through dialogue and consultation, the embassy spokesman said in a statement. "With a view to upholding maritime stability, we hope that the Philippines will meet China halfway and make joint efforts to start negotiation on above initiatives soon," the embassy said. "We urge the US to respect China's territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, and respect regional countries' efforts to uphold peace and stability in this region," it added. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the BRP Sierra Madre was deployed in Ayungin Shoal in the WPS to protect the country's interests amid China's repeated demand to tow it away. The embassy said that in November 1999 it "made representations" with the Philippine government to protest the grounding of BRP Sierra Madre in Ren'ai Jiao, an atoll in the SCS. It provided a timeline of how the Philippines supposedly "illegally seized" Ren'ai Jiao atoll from China's by grounding the BRP Sierra Madre there in 1999. It recalled that in November 1999, the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines met with then Foreign Affairs secretary Domingo Siazon and chief of the Presidential Management Staff Leonora de Jesus "to make another round of representations." "Many times the Philippines promised to tow away the vessel, but it has taken no action," the embassy said. It also said that in September 2003, upon the news that the Philippines was preparing to build facilities around that military vessel illegally run aground at Ren'ai Jiao, China lodged immediate representations. Then acting DFA secretary Franklin Ebdalin responded that the Philippines had no intention to construct facilities on Ren'ai Jiao and that, as a signatory to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC), the Philippines had "no desire to and would not be the first to violate the Declaration," the embassy said. "But the Philippines did not fulfill its undertaking to tow away that vessel. Instead, it made even worse provocations," it pointed out. The embassy likewise recalled that in February 2013, "cables were lined up around that grounded vessel and people on board bustled around, making preparations for the construction of permanent facilities." In response to China's repeated representations, then Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin claimed that the Philippines was "simply resupplying and repairing the vessel, and promised that no facilities would be built" on Ren'ai Jiao. But on March 14, the DFA issued a statement "openly declaring that the vessel it ran aground at Ren'ai Jiao was placed there as a permanent Philippine government installation." "This was an apparent attempt to provide an excuse for its continued refusal to fulfill its undertaking to tow away that vessel in order to illegally seize Ren'ai Jiao," the embassy said. China immediately responded that it was "shocked by this statement and reiterated that it would never allow the Philippines to seize Ren'ai Jiao by any means," it added. In July 2015, the Philippines stated publicly that the so-called maintenance repair was being done to fortify the vessel. "To sum up, by running aground its military vessel at Ren'ai Jiao, then promising repeatedly to tow it away but breaking that promise repeatedly and even fortifying it, the Philippines has proven itself to be the first to openly violate the DoC," the embassy said. Over the years, the Philippines, "has invaded and illegally occupied some islands and reefs of China's Nansha Qundao (Spratly Islands) and constructed various military facilities thereupon in an attempt to establish a fait accompli of permanent occupation," China said. These moves have grossly violated China's sovereignty over the relevant islands and reefs of Nansha Qundao and violated the United Nations charter and basic norms of international law, it added. China, for humanitarian reasons, claimed that it has made temporary special arrangements for the Philippines to deliver necessary life supplies such as food to BRP Sierra Madre. "But for some time, the Philippine side has been taking unilateral actions once and again, and seeking to overhaul and reinforce the military vessel in order to permanently occupy Ren'ai Jiao," the embassy said.