MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Navy’s spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) criticized on Tuesday, March 4, posts on Chinese social media that Beijing has a claim on Palawan, an island west of the Philippines that faces the West Philippine Sea.
“In an authoritarian state where social media and freedom of expression is regulated by government, everything is possible. Such statements about Palawan are baseless. They are bereft of legal references. They are beyond common sense,” said Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad in a Tuesday press briefing.
“In short, [it is] totally absurd. It will never happen that a part of the Philippines will be included in the sovereign territory of any other country,” he added.
Trinidad was asked to react to posts on Chinese social media that claimed historical ties to the island of Palawan.
The one-star Navy general then tied this to a bigger problem — China’s “attack” against the Philippines in the “information domain.”
“The battlefield is the cognitive domain or the minds of the Filipino people. Information warfare is designed to shape the perception of the Filipinos. This is also called malign influence,” he added.
Trinidad also dismissed as “deceptive messaging from the Chinese Communist Party” criticism that the BRP Sierra Madre — a warship that’s been grounded on Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea since 1999 — was causing pollution in the area.
On February 28, Philippine soldiers stationed there conducted a fire drill, causing black smoke to be seen and reported on by Chinese media.
“The smoke incidentally went beyond what they were intending to exercise. Nevertheless, this was put under control, there was no damage to the environment, all the men aboard the ship are safe. The exercise was conducted successfully,” he said. – Rappler.com