(Eagle News)–Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has ordered the filing of another diplomatic protest against China.
In a Tweet, Locsin said the filing was over the unannounced entry of Chinese vessels near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.
Locsin gave the order from Moscow, Russia, where President Rodrigo Duterte is on a five-day official visit.
The Philippines has filed several diplomatic protests against China in the past, one after the military reported spotting two warships in Sibutu Strait in July and another three in August, and another after a Chinese vessel rammed a Philippine fishing boat and abandoned the Filipino crewmen at sea, among others.
In his recent visit to China, President Duterte raised the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s nine-dash line, which demarcates the country’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.
China President Xi Jinping, however, refused to budge, with the Palace noting at the end of Duterte’s trip that both China and the Philippines vowed to focus on other aspects of their relationship first instead.
