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China threatens to release audio of secret deal with Philippines

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A Philippine Navy ship that has been grounded since 1999 to assert the country's sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal, a remote reef in the South China Sea also claimed by China, on March 29, 2014. The government of the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denied this. reached a secret agreement on the shoal with China. JAY DIRECTO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A Philippine Navy ship that has been grounded since 1999 to assert the country’s sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal, a remote reef in the South China Sea also claimed by China, on March 29, 2014. The government of the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denied this. reached a secret agreement on the shoal with China. JAY DIRECTO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

China could soon release the audio of an alleged phone call with a Philippine military official that Beijing says is evidence of an agreement over disputed territory in the South China Sea, Chinese officials said.

In the alleged January 3 phone call, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, head of the Philippine Army’s Western Command, agrees to a “new model” in conducting supply missions to the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal in South China Zee, according to a transcript provided by Chinese officials to Bloomberg News.

The transcript could be released to the public within days, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

The Chinese statements marked the latest in a war of words between China on one side and the Philippines and the US on the other over disputed parts of the South China Sea. Tensions have escalated in recent months, with Chinese ships using water cannon to repeatedly blow up Philippine ships trying to supply troops stationed on the Sierra Madre, a World War II ship stranded in the Second Thomas Shoal.

The US and the Philippines have repeatedly disputed Beijing’s version of events in the South China Sea, while also accusing China of spreading misinformation.

China’s Foreign Ministry has said in recent days that discussions on the “new model” have been held this year with the Philippine military’s Western Command, and that it has been approved by officials up the chain of command, including by the Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. National Security Advisor Eduardo Ano. Both denied Beijing’s statements this weekend.

The transcript of the alleged phone call quoted Carlos as saying that Teodoro, Ano and Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner had signed the agreement. The name of one Philippine official – listed before the others – was redacted from the transcript. Chinese officials declined to identify that person.

When Teodoro was asked on Tuesday about China’s claims that he had an audio conversation with Carlos, he said he knew nothing about it.

“No one except the president, through the State Department, has the authority to enter into any agreement on any international matter,” Teodoro said by phone. “I don’t know where the Chinese come from.”

Carlos did not answer repeated calls to his cell phone, which appeared to be turned off. The Philippine military said earlier on Tuesday that he had requested leave, adding that this was not related to China’s claim that the Western Command chief had struck a deal with Beijing.

“We cannot comment on this yet as we have not yet seen the transcript,” Philippine military spokeswoman Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said in a mobile message on Tuesday when asked about the Chinese claims. “And is the transcript authentic or is it made up? The phone call could be a deep fake.”

Brawner, who was also identified by Carlos in the transcript, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

“As we stated in our latest statement on Saturday, we have no further comment on this matter,” National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya said via text message on Tuesday. “CHN can continue whatever interests us.”

Chinese officials said the transcript covered two minutes of audio and declined to provide more information about what they said was a 12-minute conversation.

In the alleged transcript, Carlos agrees to give the Chinese two days’ notice of any supply missions and to transport only food, water and humanitarian supplies to the Sierra Madre.

Both sides agreed to send one coast guard ship and one civilian vessel to each supply mission, the officials said, adding that the Philippines had violated all three provisions of the deal.

China is announcing the “new model” almost a month after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was “shocked” to learn that his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte had entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” with China that contained essentially the same terms, which prevented Manila from sending building materials to the Sierra Madre.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that only President Marcos can approve agreements on the South China Sea. “The DFA can confirm that no government official at cabinet level has agreed to any Chinese proposal regarding the Ayungin Shoal,” the report said, using the local name for the Second Thomas Shoal.

Bloomberg

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