Kamala Harris visits Philippine island where territorial tensions with China reign

US Vice President Kamala Harrisvisits this Tuesday the Philippine island of Palawan, the nearest coastline to the waters through which China D Philippines They are engaged in a territorial dispute at a time of rising tensions in this area of ​​the South China Sea.

Harris, on an official trip to Philippines Starting Sunday, he plans to visit the port of Palawan’s capital, Puerto Princesa, a Coast Guard ship that regularly monitors the islands that occupy the Philippines in the South Sea. China – and to which Manila belongs the Western Philippine Sea.

The US representative, who will also meet with local fishermen’s associations, confirmed this Monday in Manila the historic military alliance between her country and Philippines and assured that USA. will defend the Asian country in the South China Sea after meeting in Malacaña with the President of the Asian state, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“We support you in complying with international rules and regulations regarding the South China Sea. An armed attack on the Philippine military, public ships or aircraft will trigger U.S. mutual defense,” Harris said.

Harris’s visit to Palawan comes at a time of rising tensions between China and the Philippines in the region and coincides with a new clash between the two countries’ coast guards that erupted on Sunday when a Philippine vessel attempted to pick up an unidentified ship. a facility near the island of Pag-asa, an islet occupied by the Philippines and located about 570 kilometers off the west coast of Palawan.

As the Filipino crew members had already begun to assemble the object, an inflatable boat deployed by a Chinese Coast Guard ship suddenly appeared and appropriated it, the Philippine military said in a statement on Monday. Philippines.

Embassy of China in Philippines The day before, he denied forcibly appropriating the object and claimed that he agreed to save the object with Philippines.

TERRITORIAL CONFLICT

China D Philippines maintain a territorial conflict over the sovereignty of several islands and atolls in the South China Sea that Beijing considers its own for “historical reasons” despite being less than 200 miles off the west coast of the Philippines, a limit that the UN has set in as a boundary of the Sovereign Maritime Agreement between States, which China acceded to in 1996.

In addition to the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei claim part of this strategic sea, through which 30% of world trade passes and where 12% of the world’s fisheries and oil and gas deposits are located, although China is credited with sovereignty over these waters for almost fully.

So far, the Philippines is the only country that has a ruling supporting its claims, as the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague awarded it ownership of several territories in the South China Sea, Scarborough Atoll, in 2016. and part of the Spratly archipelago, where China has built military bases.

Chinawhich appeals to historical rights to the area, has never recognized the decisions of the Navy and continues its military and fishing activities in the exclusive economic zone Philippines.

(As reported by EFE)