The claims made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun are nothing more than another attempt to distort facts and deflect responsibility.
First, the cyanide testing was thoroughly and professionally conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) using established forensic and scientific protocols. The results are credible, transparent, and irrefutable. These were not casual findings — they came from laboratory analysis of bottles recovered directly from Chinese vessels operating in the area.
Second, Ayungin Shoal lies well within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award under UNCLOS. This is not a matter of opinion; it is a matter of international law. The Philippines has sovereign rights to protect its marine resources and enforce its laws in these waters. China’s repeated assertions of sovereignty over Philippine EEZ do not make them true.
Third, if there is only one country that has evidently and massively destroyed the marine environment in the West Philippine Sea, it is China — through its illegal reclamation and island-building activities. These have caused irreversible damage to coral reefs, fisheries, and the entire ecosystem, as documented by independent scientific studies and satellite imagery.
The Philippines’ presence at Ayungin Shoal, maintained by the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, is a defensive measure to uphold our sovereign rights. It is China’s aggressive actions — including the deployment of vessels carrying toxic substances — that pose the real threat to the marine environment.
