{"id":266694,"date":"2020-08-27T06:19:27","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T10:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=266694"},"modified":"2020-08-27T06:19:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T10:19:27","slug":"palace-respects-us-visa-restriction-on-china-firms-over-scs-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/27\/palace-respects-us-visa-restriction-on-china-firms-over-scs-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace respects US visa restriction on China firms over SCS role"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. during a press conference at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan, Davao City on January 4, 2018. JOEY DALUMPINES\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday said it respects the decision of the United States (US) to impose visa restrictions on 24 Chinese firms for their supposed involvement in militarization activities in the hotly-contested South China Sea.<\/p>\n

In a virtual press briefing aired on state-run PTV-4, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque acknowledged the US\u2019 right to take action against Chinese companies involved in advancing Beijing\u2019s territorial claims in South China Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIyang desisyon kung sino ang papapasukin sa teritoryo ng isang bansa ay desisyon po iyan ng isang soberenyang bansa<\/em>. So\u00a0nirerespeto po natin iyang desisyon na iyan<\/em>\u00a0(That decision as to who can enter the territory of a country is a decision made by a sovereign state. So we are respecting that decision),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the US announced its decision to add 24 Chinese firms to its \u201cEntity List\u201d for their supposed role in helping the Chinese military \u201cconstruct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US\u2019 Entity List is a tool utilized by its Bureau of Industry and Security to \u201crestrict the export, re-export, and transfer (in-country) of items\u201d subject to the Export Administration Regulations to persons believed to be involved in activities that may affect the country\u2019s national security or foreign policy interests.<\/p>\n

Among the Chinese companies included in the Entity List were several firms related to China Communications Construction Co., Beijing Huanjia Telecommunication, Changzhou Guogang Data Communications, China Electronics Technology Group Corp., China Electronics Technology Group, and China Shipbuilding Group.<\/p>\n

The US\u2019 latest move came as it lamented that China\u2019s continued militarization of disputed South China Sea undermines the sovereign rights of its partners in the region.<\/p>\n

In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the fresh directive is the Washington\u2019s way to show support for a \u201cfree and open\u201d South China Sea.<\/p>\n

Pompeo said the visa restriction will be imposed on those \u201cresponsible for, or complicit in\u201d either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

The restriction, Pompeo said, also applies to individuals involved in China\u2019s \u201cuse of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

China has long-standing South China Sea disputes with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Asked how the Philippines would balance its interest amid the apparent tiff between US and China, Roque said the stance of President Rodrigo Duterte is to uphold the country\u2019s national interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalinaw po ang posisyon ni Presidente. Ang itataguyod po niya ay ang pang<\/em>-national\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0interest\u00a0ng Pilipinas sa gitna po ng banggaan ng dalawang dambuhalang mga bansa<\/em>\u00a0(The President\u2019s position is clear. He will uphold the Philippines\u2019 national interest amid the ongoing spat between the two giant countries),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

The Philippines won its arbitration case filed against China on July 12, 2016 when the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Beijing has \u201cno legal basis\u201d to claim historic rights over almost the entire South China Sea.<\/p>\n

Malaca\u00f1ang has repeatedly said the Philippines, without ignoring the arbitral ruling, will pursue a \u201cpeaceful and diplomatic\u201d approach to resolve the sea disputes with China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday said it respects the decision of the United States (US) to impose visa restrictions on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":252612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266695,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266694\/revisions\/266695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}