MANILA: Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said that China has shown its willingness to discuss fishing rights in the South China Sea, as he sought a “direct communication line” with Beijing on the maritime issues.
Marcos said China has agreed to “sit down” and talk about Filipinos’ fishing rights in the South China Sea, adding he has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Philippine Coast Guard “to put together…a map of these fishing grounds” that will be shared to Beijing.
In remarks made to the reporters while on board a plane to Washington, Marcos also advocated for a Philippines-China “direct communication line”, saying it must be finally adopted, when pressed for his views on a recent maritime conflict between the two countries.
“The overall priority is to safeguard the maritime territory,” Marcos said, in his remarks issued by his office.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the BBC.
On Friday, the Philippines accused China’s coast guard of “aggressive tactics” following a recent incident during a Philippine coast guard patrol close to the Philippines-held Second Thomas Shoal, a flashpoint for previous clashes located 195km off its coast.
The US has called on China to stop harassing Philippine vessels in the Sea, while Beijing said it was willing to sort out maritime issues with countries of concern through friendly consultations, while warning Washington against any interference.
“This is the kind of thing that… we’re hoping to avoid, that this time it was a little more dangerous because they were close,” Marcos said. “That can cause casualties on both sides.”
It is to mention here that China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, with a “nine-dash line” on maps that stretches more than 1,500km off its mainland and cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. An international arbitral ruling in 2016 rejected that line as having no legal basis.
