DFA: Ayungin deal does not require China’s approval for PH missions

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday clarified that the Philippines does not need China’s permission to conduct rotation and resupply missions to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

The department said the 2024 provisional arrangement with Beijing does not recognize any Chinese authority over Philippine waters.

“The Provisional Understanding is a set of principles and approaches observed by both sides in order to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation in the conduct of the Philippines’ routine rotation and resupply missions for daily necessities to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal,” the DFA said in a statement. 

READ: Carpio: China can’t prevent Philippine construction at Ayungin Shoal

It added that the understanding “is not a grant of or a request for permission to any foreign government” and “does not recognize any foreign jurisdiction over Philippine waters.”

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan accused Manila of breaching the July 2024 understanding by allegedly undertaking construction work on the grounded Philippine Navy vessel, which serves as the country’s military outpost at Ayungin  Shoal.

On Monday, a confrontation occurred near the BRP Sierra Madre involving rubber boats. Philippine military officials said China Coast Guard (CCG) personnel struck Philippine Navy troops with wooden batons during the encounter. Two Filipino Navy sailors were injured, and the Philippine Coast Guard later carried out a medical evacuation to bring them to Palawan despite the presence of CCG vessels in the area.Following the incident, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. summoned  Jing at Malacañang on Tuesday.Malacañang said Marcos raised the Ayungin incident and condemned what Palace Press Officer Claire Castro described as China’s “illegal, aggressive and barbaric actions” against Filipino personnel in the West Philippine Sea.

Manila and Beijing reached the arrangement in July 2024 after a series of confrontations around Ayungin Shoal.

The DFA also said the arrangement does not allow the boarding or inspection of Philippine vessels and “does not concede the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction.”

The department reiterated that Ayungin Shoal forms part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a position upheld by the 2016 South China Sea arbitral ruling.

“As a low-tide elevation, Ayungin generates no maritime entitlement of its own and cannot be claimed by any other state,” the DFA said.

It added that Philippine vessels “do not require permission to sail to Ayungin” and that only the Philippines may authorize structures on the shoal.

The low-tide elevation lies about 194 kilometers west of Palawan.

China continues to claim sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea within the areas that overlap with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. 

Beijing has rejected the 2016 arbitral ruling, which invalidated the legal basis of its sweeping “nine-dash line” claim in the South China Sea, later expanded to a “10-dash line.”

The DFA said the Philippines’ legal position “remains unchanged and non-negotiable” and that rotation and resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre would continue as part of routine government operations. /mr/cb