PH, China hotline on SCS elevated to foreign ministers, leaders’ reps

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 17, 2024): PH, China hotline on SCS elevated to foreign ministers, leaders’ reps (By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)

THREATENING. Chinese Coast Guard personnel point an axe to Philippine Navy troops on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal on June 17, 2024. The Philippines and China’s communication mechanism on the South China Sea will soon extend to the two states’ presidential representatives and top diplomats, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday night (July 16). (Photo courtesy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines)

MANILA – The Philippines and China’s communication mechanism on the South China Sea would soon extend to the two states’ presidential representatives and top diplomats, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday night.

In a text sent to the Philippine News Agency, the DFA confirmed that the recently signed “Arrangement on Improving Philippines-China Maritime Communication Mechanisms” would provide various “channels for communication” between the two nations, specifically on maritime issues.

These avenues include one “through the representatives to be designated” by the Philippine and Chinese presidents.

Another channel is between the DFA and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including at the secretary (foreign minister) and undersecretary (vice foreign minister) levels or through their designated representatives.

Once the corresponding memorandum of understanding between the two foreign affairs is concluded, the two states will activate a communication mechanism between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), the text added.

“The DFA is in discussions with the Chinese side on the guidelines that will govern the implementation of this Arrangement,” it said.

The arrangement was signed last July 2 at the 9th Philippine-China Bilateral Consultation Mechanism meeting, a key dialogue between the two states days following the violent June 17 incident in the Ayungin Shoal involving the CCG.

This improved line of communication builds on the mechanism that the Philippines and China created during the 2023 bilateral meeting between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and President Xi Jinping.

The previous direct communication mechanism extended to the DFA’s Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office and the Chinese MOFA’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs and was to prevent untoward incidents in the West Philippine Sea.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1229128