THE Department of National Defense (DND) slammed China for criticizing Philippine military officials over operations near Bajo de Masinloc, saying it was a “self-directed farce.” Guo Jiakun of the China Foreign Ministry earlier took a swipe at the officials who, “driven by personal political motives, have repeatedly made outrageous and absurd statements, and habitually incite confrontation” between Beijing and Manila. “Such behavior is despicable,” Guo said. In a statement, the DND clapped back, saying, “Philippine operations in these waters are lawful, routine and conducted in the exercise of the country’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction under international law.” “The real farce is the act of calling for peaceful engagement, while the fully armed and heftily funded People’s Liberation Army [Navy] is harassing our fisherfolk who are merely trying to make a living in their traditional fishing grounds,” it said. On Wednesday, the Philippine Coast Guard was conducting an air patrol over Bajo de Masinloc when it received radio challenges from People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships and its air force. The DND said it is also “not surprising that the government of the People’s Republic of China is assailing the Philippines’ transparency strategy” since [their] “transparency is abhorred by those who twist the truth and manipulate narratives to legitimize their unlawful acts and baseless claims.” The DND reiterated that China’s illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive activities in the West Philippine Sea are “accurately documented and communicated to the public.” China “is to blame for the world’s growing awareness of the cognitive illusion that it is trying to create in order to cover up the reputational damage it is inflicting upon itself,” the DND said. Chinese and Philippine ships regularly clash in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The Philippine Navy said that on March 7, a Chinese navy ship directed its fire control radar toward one of its vessels near another flash point, the Sabina Shoal, a fish-rich area about 150 kilometers from Palawan. The specialized radar provides precise targeting coordinates to a ship’s weapons systems. The Navy said the BRP Miguel Malvar was patrolling the area when “a PLA Navy vessel, with bow number 622... approached and later directed its fire control radar toward the Philippine Navy ship.” “This was an alarming and provocative action that created unnecessary risk and could have led to misinterpretation and misunderstanding at sea,” the Navy said.