Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday said he has yet to consider a reply to China’s retort to the Philippines’ diplomatic protest on the two countries’ claims over several islets and water territories.

Locsin said China also enjoys its freedom to air its side on the issue.

“Now the question is, do I protest, a reaction to it. As I said, I believe that everyone is free to say what they want, on any issue,” he said.

His statement came after China told the Philippines to stop sending military aircrafts to patrol the Spratlys island and the reefs that China is also claiming.

China has been sending the patrol radio warnings for each flight.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian in a media briefing last Saturday claimed that the Philippines “infringes on China’s sovereignty and security” through these actions.

The Philippines earlier sent China a letter of protest over the Chinese Coast Guard’s confiscation of the equipment of Filipino fishermen at the Bajo de Masinloc. The Chinese claimed the waters as theirs as part of their Huangyan Dao territory.

Filipino fishermen lack naval protection in the waters being contested by the other countries, including China. Foreign shipping vessels have crossed over to the Philippine territories in the past while local fishermen had been caught in foreign waters, too.

At other times, they just co-exist in the fishing waters without any incident.

Locsin also stated that one of the factors for the Philippines’ reaction is the country’s lack of a strong military force. He stated that the Philippines’ focus is on the “facts” stated in the tribunal award, referring to the 2016 decision by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that ruled China’s nine-dash line claim and accompanying claims to historic rights have no validity under international law.

It was not recognized by China.

“When you lack the military power to do something about your territory, all you have is precision in the head. That’s something very rare in the law, precision about the facts, that’s always correct, and then find our progress, until something happens,” he said.

Despite this, he said that assistance will be requested from the United States only when an explicit attack is initiated by China.

“As I said before, until something happens that is beyond incursion, in fact, is an attack on, say a Philippine naval vessel in which case, then I call up Washington DC,” he said.

Locsin explained that even with the ongoing dispute, the Philippines will not be turning its back on any economic opportunities given by other countries, especially with China.

“I will not turn against the economic opportunities offered by China. In fact, it offered the most prospects for mutual problems,” he said. (Daily Tribune)