China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded Australia stop “exaggerating tensions and inciting confrontation” over the South China Sea after Penny Wong warned Beijing against “destabilising” conduct in the region.
The comments came after China and the Philippines blamed one another for a physical confrontation between China Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy in the South China Sea on Monday.
On Wednesday Senator Wong said Australia was concerned about “aggression” and “destabilising conduct” and that countries had a “choice to make” about how to respond.
When asked about Senator Wong’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that “whenever there is the slightest disturbance at sea … the same small handful of countries rush to the forefront to oppose China without regard for the facts”.
“China urges the relevant countries to stop exaggerating tensions and inciting confrontation, and to genuinely respect the efforts made by regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Mr Lin said.
China says Australia is inciting confrontation amid tension over the launching of a missile that landed in the intended area. (CCTV)
The spat comes against the backdrop of an intense bout of regional diplomacy in the Philippines, which is hosting dozens of foreign ministers and senior officials for the annual ASEAN meeting in Manila.
The issue of China’s behaviour loomed large ahead of the meeting and ASEAN foreign ministers are eager to make progress on a South China Sea code of conduct that they hope will be finalised by the end of the year.
But the physical confrontation, in which a Filipino sailor was struck on the head with a baton, threw the issue back into the spotlight.
At a press conference, local journalists asked Senator Wong about the incident, as well as a Chinese missile test and rising tensions in the region.
“We are concerned about some of the aggression we are seeing, we are concerned about some of the destabilising conduct we are seeing,” the foreign minister said.
“The countries of the region have a choice to make about how we all respond to that and Australia believes we should respond to that by working for peace and stability … [and] by continuing to call for and encouraging compliance with observation of international law and of safe and professional conduct at sea and in the air.”
Senator Wong met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday night and raised Australia’s concerns over China’s missile test earlier this month.
China fired a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered submarine. It landed in the Pacific, around the exclusive economic zone of Tuvalu.
Philippines says navy personnel injured
China’s Foreign Ministry has again blamed the Philippines for the physical altercation, in which the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said one of its navy personnel was injured.
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Footage of the incident shows the China Coast Guard and Philippine Navy briefly engaging each other from inflatable boats.
The incident took place at the Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines has a military outpost on a grounded ship.
“China has already made clear its solemn position regarding the malicious attacks by Philippine personnel against Chinese law enforcement officers,” Mr Lin said.
For its part, AFP said China’s Coast Guard “reacted violently and aggressively”.
The Second Thomas Shoal is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, which China claims as its own, along with much of the South China Sea.
China’s nine-dash line claim was rejected by a tribunal at The Hague a decade ago, but China disputes the ruling.
Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro raised the incident during talks with Mr Wang on Wednesday.
China reminds world of growing military power
“I reiterated our strong protest over the unacceptable actions against Filipino personnel near Ayungin Shoal,” Ms Lazaro said on social media.
The US State Department in a statement said it condemned “China’s dangerous and aggressive actions against Philippine navy personnel”.
“China’s troubling pattern of provocation against lawful Philippine maritime operations undermines regional peace and stability and directly contradicts China’s repeated commitments to resolve disputes peacefully,” the statement said.
In a statement, the European Union delegation to the Philippines expressed “its deep concern over the steady increase of tensions and dangerous incidents in the South China Sea”.