中國首次公開其聲稱的2016年與菲律賓的協議 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China publicizes for the first time what it claims is a 2016 agreement with Philippines (1/2)

Associated Press - CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

Fri, May 3, 2024 at 6:45 a.m. PDT·5 min read

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — For the first time, China has publicized what it claims is an unwritten 2016 agreement with the Philippines over access to South China Sea islands.

The move threatens to further raise tensions in the disputed waterway, through which much of the world's trade passes and which China claims virtually in its entirety.

A statement from the Chinese Embassy in Manila said the “temporary special arrangement” agreed to during a visit to Beijing by former president Rodrigo Duterte allowed small scale fishing around the islands but restricted access by military, coast guard and other official planes and ships to the 12 nautical mile (22 kilometer) limit of territorial waters.

The Philippines respected the agreement over the past seven years but has since reneged on it to “fulfill its own political agenda,” forcing China to take action, the statement said.

“This is the basic reason for the ceaseless disputes at sea between China and the Philippines over the past year and more,” said the statement posted to the embassy's website Thursday, referring to the actions of the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Duterte have denied forging any agreements that would have supposedly surrendered Philippine sovereignty or sovereign rights to China. Any such action, if proven, would be an impeachable offense under the country’s 1987 Constitution.

However, after his visit to Beijing, Duterte hinted at such an agreement without offering details, said Collin Koh, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies based in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and an expert on naval affairs in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly Southeast Asia.

“He boasted then that he not only got Chinese investment and trade pledges, but also that he secured Philippine fishermen access to Scarborough Shoal,” Koh said, referring to one of the maritime features in dispute.

Beijing's deliberate wording in the statement “is noteworthy in showing that Beijing has no official document to prove its case and thus could only rely mainly on Duterte’s verbal claim,” Koh said.

Marcos, who took office in June 2022, told reporters last month that China has insisted that there was such a secret agreement but said he was not aware of any.

“The Chinese are insisting that there is a secret agreement and, perhaps, there is, and, I said I didn’t, I don’t know anything about the secret agreement,” said Marcos, who has drawn the Philippines closer to its treaty partner the U.S. “Should there be such a secret agreement, I am now rescinding it.”

(to be continued)

Translation

台灣台北（美聯社）—中國首次公開了它聲稱的 2016 年與菲律賓就南海島嶼使用權達成的不成文協議。

此舉有可能進一步加劇有爭議水道的緊張局勢，世界上大部分貿易都經過該水道，而中國幾乎對整個水道聲稱擁有主權。

中國駐馬尼拉大使館的聲明稱，前總統杜特爾特在訪問北京期間同意的「臨時特別安排」承認在島嶼周圍進行小規模捕魚，但限制軍隊、海岸警衛隊和其他官方飛機和船隻進入 12 海裡（22 公里）領海界限。

聲明稱，菲律賓在過去七年裡一直遵守該協議，但後來卻背棄了該協議，以 “實現自己秘密的政治目標” ， 迫使中國採取行動。

周四大使館網站上發佈的聲明話: “這是過去一年多來中國和菲律賓之間海上爭端不斷的根本原因” ，指的是菲律賓的行動。

小馬可斯總統和杜特爾特否認簽署了任何據稱將菲律賓主權或主權權利移交給中國的協議。 根據該國 1987 年憲法，任何此類行為如果得到證實，都將構成可彈劾的罪行。

然而，新加坡南洋理工大學 S. Rajaratnam 國際研究學院高級研究員、印太海軍事務專家,特別是東南亞方面的 Collin Koh 表示，杜特爾特在訪問北京後暗示達成這樣的協議，但沒有提供細節。

Koh說: 「他當時吹噓說，他不僅得到了中國的投資和貿易承諾，而且還確保菲律賓漁民能夠進入黃岩島」，他指的是有爭議的海事上地標之一。

Koh說，北京在聲明中刻意的措辭 「是值得注意，表明北京沒有官方文件來證明其情況，因此只能主要依靠杜特爾特的口頭宣稱」。

2022 年 6 月上任的馬可斯上個月對記者表示，中國堅稱存在這樣一項秘密協議，但表示他對此並不知情。

馬可斯說:「中國人堅持認為有一項秘密協議，也許確實存在，但我說我沒有，我對這項秘密協議一無所知」，他拉近了菲律賓與條約夥伴美國更接近的關係。「如果有這樣的秘密協議，我現在就廢除它」。

（待續）