Members of the media take footage of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocking a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Philippines on April 27 denied a Chinese claim that the two countries had reached an agreement over an escalating maritime dispute in the South China Sea, calling the claim propaganda.

A spokesperson at China’s embassy in Manila said on April 18 that the two had agreed early this year to a “new model” in managing tensions at the Second Thomas Shoal, without elaborating.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on April 27 his department was “not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China” since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in 2022. Defence department officials have not spoken to any Chinese officials since last year, Mr. Teodoro said in a statement.

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Teodoro’s comments outside office hours.

Beijing and Manila have repeatedly clashed in recent months at the submerged reef, which Philippines says is in its exclusive economic zone but which China also claims.

The Philippines had accused China of blocking manoeuvres and firing water cannons at its vessels to disrupt supply missions to Filipino soldiers stationed in a naval ship which Manila deliberately grounded in 1999 to bolster its maritime claims.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its claims overlap with those of the Philippines and four other nations. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing rejects.

Mr. Teodoro called China’s claims of a bilateral agreement “part of the Chinese propaganda”, adding that the Philippines would never enter into any agreement that would compromise its claims in the waterway.

“The narrative that unnamed or unidentified Chinese officials are propagating is another crude attempt to advance a falsehood,” he said.

In this photo released by ASEAN via the Australian Government, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Enrique A. Manalo addresses a forum on maritime cooperation at the ASEAN Special Summit, in Melbourne on March 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo told AFP on Monday that his country wants to solve maritime disputes with China peacefully — but delivered a simple message to Beijing: “stop harassing us”.

Speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, Mr. Manalo defended his government’s policy of publicising Chinese manoeuvres in contested maritime territory — including the recent passage of warships near Scarborough Shoal.

“It’s merely trying to inform the people of what’s going on,” Mr. Manalo said. “And some countries or one country at least has some difficulty with that.”

“But our simple explanation is if you would stop harassing us and, and perhaps performing other actions, there wouldn’t be any news to report.”

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, brushing aside claims from a host of Southeast Asian nations.

Also Read | China, Philippines agree to lower tensions on South China Sea confrontations

Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the disputed South China Sea — has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

Philippine governments have tried to rally international and regional support to their cause — with mixed results.

“The Philippines is committed to a peaceful resolution of disputes through diplomatic means, or peaceful means,” Mr. Manalo said, while insisting “this will not be done at the expense of our national interest.”

“We are reaching out to partners in like-minded countries with similar issues and similar concerns.”

But Mr. Manalo acknowledged there was at least a small question mark over support from the Philippines’ most important security partner — the United States.

The two countries are treaty allies, meaning Washington has formally pledged to come to Manila’s defence in the event of a military conflict.

Ask about the November election — which will pit incumbent Joe Biden against Republican firebrand Donald Trump, he said it was a topic of frequent debate behind closed doors.

“Every country in the world is probably thinking of that, of course. The United States is a major, it’s a treaty ally of the Philippines. So obviously, any differences or changes in U.S. policy from existing policies would most likely have some kind of effect.”

“At this stage it’s fairly difficult to assess how it would happen, or what would happen,” he said.

“But all I can say is we are, of course, carefully monitoring the election season in the United States, but I’ve had talks with many of my other colleagues from other countries, and I think everybody is doing the same.”

“So certainly all eyes will be riveted on that election this year.”