𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐚 called “𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 the latest attempt by the Chinese Embassy to use a 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟎 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐥.
This is after the 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐲 cited a 1990 letter written by Ambassador Bienvenido A. Tan, Jr., stating that 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐟 (Huangyan Dao) “𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬,” according to Philippine mapping authorities at the time.
According to Rear Admiral Tarriela, the said letter is not an official waiver of sovereignty, emphasizing that it is 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, where relying on it overlooks the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling.
