November 28, 2019 11:44am By MICHAELA DEL CALLAR
China has played down reports that
it could shut down the Philippines' power grid in the event of conflict,
calling it "completely groundless."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Geng Shuang said the reports have no basis and that the State Grid Corporation
of China only took part in a National Transmission Commission (Transco) project
as a "cooperation partner."
"The project is now operated,
managed and maintained by the Philippine side, with the Chinese partner
offering necessary technical support upon request," Geng told a press
briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
"The allegation of China's
control over the Philippines' power grid or threat to the country's national
security is completely groundless."
Reports said China's State Grid
Corporation has a 40% stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines
(NGCP), a private consortium that operates, maintains, and expands the
country's power grid.
System operations are controlled and
managed by Chinese engineers, an arrangement opposed by several Philippine
lawmakers, calling it a serious national concern.
The two Asian neighbors have been at
odds for years over contested territories in the South China Sea, with the
Philippines winning an internationally-backed arbitration case against China
before the The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2016.
In its verdict, the tribunal
denigrated China's massive claim over the resource-rich waters. Beijing refused
to recognize the ruling and increased military and civilian presence and
control in several disputed features.
Geng urged "certain
individuals" in the Philippines to look at cooperation with China "in
an open, objective and impartial manner."
"There is no need to worry
about the sky falling or imagine trouble where there is none," he said,
noting that the Philippines is China's "close and friendly neighbor as
well as an important partner."
Geng also said his government will
continue to support Chinese businesses' "pursuit of practical, win-win
cooperation in the Philippines in accordance with laws and
regulations." — RSJ, GMA News
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