CHINA has pending requests to study Benham Rise, an undersea plateau east of Luzon believed to be rich in marine resources, acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said yesterday.
“I know a number have been denied and in fact two or three are under consideration. I mean, two or three requests,” Manalo told ANC News Channel a day after a DFA official told a Senate hearing the Philippines has twice rejected China’s requests, two of these made in 2015 and 2016.
Maria Lourdes Montero, director of the DFA’s Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office, said the requests were denied due to the exclusion of Filipino scientists in the proposed expeditions. She was not asked during the hearing if the request made last year was during the Aquino or Duterte administration.
Manalo said permission from the government is needed before China or other countries can conduct surveys or research in the area, and requirements should also be met.
“We have the sovereign rights, but we have requirements which I understand China did not fulfill,” he said on why Beijing’s requests in the past were denied.
Manalo did not say though when exactly the request in 2016 was made. DFA spokesman Charles Jose also did not reply when asked about the date.
China’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Chinese vessels recently passed through the Benham Rise but said it was only in the exercise of the principle of “freedom of navigation.”
The controversy erupted after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana disclosed the presence of the Chinese vessel, saying that their prolonged stay in the area was not merely an “innocent passage.”
Both the DND and the DFA then said China did not get permission to conduct research in the area but Duterte said he was “advised ahead” of the passage of the Chinese vessel.
Manalo said Duterte’s statement about what the Chinese vessel in the Benham Rise has been doing in the area may have been taken out of context, considering his earlier comments that ships from other countries are welcome to enter the country provided they seek permission from the government.
“Maybe the President was taken out of context. What he earlier said was if it was a friendly visit, you are welcome to come,” he said.
He noted China has said it recognizes the country’s sovereign rights to the Benham Rise, which is within the country’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf areas.
“We are satisfied with their explanation,” he added.
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