China using tactics to distract PH from issues in contested waters

From CNN Philippines (Aug 24, 2023): Malaya: China using tactics to distract PH from issues in contested waters (By Bamba Galang, CNN Philippines)

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24) — The National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday said China is using tactics that will divert the attention of the Philippines amid heightened tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

"Gumagamit po sila ng mga alepores or what we call as operators or proxies which ginagamit nila as force multipliers na iba-iba sinasabi but using a certain script coming from them para pagsabungin tayo," NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya told CNN Philippines' The Source.

[Translation: They are using operators or proxies that they use as force multipliers who say different things but using a certain script coming from them to divide us.]

Malaya said this was what Beijing did when it had several versions of what happened during Manila's recent resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal.

He cited the statement made by Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian who claimed there was a special arrangement between the two countries that allowed the successful delivery of goods to the BRP Sierra Madre. Philippine officials have said they were unaware of such, and maintained that the country does not need to ask for permission for whatever it is doing at the shoal.

READ: PH activities in Ayungin not subject to other country's approval - DFA

The China Coast Guard (CCG), on the other hand, claimed that it issued a "stern warning" and it "effectively regulated our ships," Malaya said.

Radio challenges from China also said "leave and keep calm otherwise you'll take full responsibility for the consequences," Malaya added. There was even a flexing of the water cannon that was meant to intimidate Philippine vessels, he noted.

The NSC official said the best way to counter this tactic, which he called "cognitive warfare," is through raising awareness. The Philippines does this by releasing footage from its resupply missions to show the CCG's actions towards the country's vessels, he said.

The BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship, was deliberately grounded on Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to serve as Manila's military outpost in the West Philippine Sea.

The shoal is located 104 nautical miles west of Palawan and is well within the Philippines' 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Philippines and China have conflicting claims over the part of the South China Sea that Manila calls the West Philippine Sea, where Ayungin Shoal is located. A landmark 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling invalidated China's expansive claims, and ruled largely in favor of Manila in areas of its EEZ and continental shelf that are being claimed by Beijing.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/8/24/malaya-china-using-tactics-to-distract-ph.html