Chinese fishing boats set sail in the South China Sea, seen here on August 16, 2020.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
The Philippine government expressed concern after seeing more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels believed to be equipped by militias on a reef claimed by both countries in the South China Sea, but did not immediately protest.
A government agency overseeing the disputed region said late Saturday that about 220 Chinese ships were seen anchored at Whitsun Reef on March 7. He published images of ships standing side by side in one of the hottest areas of the strategic waterway.
The reef, called Manila by Julian Felipe, is a boomerang-shaped, shallow coral region about 324 kilometers west of Bataraza in the western province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is located in the country’s exclusive economic zone, over which the Philippines “enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources,” the agency said in a statement.
The large number of Chinese boats is “a concern due to possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to the safety of navigation,” he said, although he added that the vessels did not fish when they were seen.
When asked if the Philippines would file a protest, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. posted on Twitter, “only if the generals tell me.”
Chinese embassy officials did not immediately comment. China, the Philippines and four other governments have been stuck for decades in a tense territorial dispute over resource-rich and busy waterways.
If I send my sailors to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you that none of them will come home alive.
Rodrigo Duterte
President of the Philippines
Critics have repeatedly called on President Rodrigo Duterte, who has maintained friendly ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016, because he could not resist China’s aggressive behavior and decided not to immediately seek Chinese compliance with an international ruling. arbitration that invalidated Beijing’s historic claims to virtually the entire sea. China has refused to recognize the 2016 ruling and continues to defy it.
The arbitration body also ruled that China had breached its duty to respect the traditional fishing rights of Filipinos when Chinese forces blocked them from Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines in 2012. The Philippines, however, , could not deny Chinese fishermen access to Scarborough, at the decision. The decision did not specify any other traditional fishing area in the exclusive area of the Philippines, where fishermen from China and other countries could be allowed to fish.
When Xi says, “I’ll fish,” who can stop him? Duterte said two years ago while defending his non-confrontational approach, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“If I send my sailors to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you that none of them will come home alive,” Duterte said at the time, adding that diplomatic talks with Beijing allowed the Filipinos to return to disputed fishing grounds. The Chinese had previously driven them away.
Duterte sought funding for infrastructure, trade and investment from China, which donated and pledged to deliver more Covid-19 vaccines as the Philippines faces an alarming rise in coronavirus infections.