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26-09-2023
MANILA: Philippine authorities Monday vowed to remove a floating barrier installed by China’s coast guard at a disputed lagoon in the South China Sea.
“We condemn the installation of floating barriers by the Chinese coast guard,” Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement Monday.
The Philippines “will take all appropriate actions to cause the removal of the barriers and to protect the rights of our fishermen in the area,” Ano said, without elaborating on the specifics.
Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson said Sunday the alleged barrier, with a length of about 300 meters (some 1,000 feet), was discovered on Friday during a “routine maritime patrol.”
Spokesperson Jay Tarriela said the floating barrier was preventing Filipino fishing boats from entering the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
The issue is the latest flare-up in a series of increasing confrontations between Chinese and Philippines vessels, as China asserts greater control over the sea.
A number of different countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan, lay competing territorial claims to parts of the sea but China claims sovereignty to nearly all of the sea, therefore cutting into maritime territories internationally recognized as belonging to other countries.
US patrol and jets have carried out patrols for decades to challenge Beijing’s expansive claims.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sought help to defend its maritime claims, including by holding joint drills with the US for the first time in a decade earlier this year and signing a maritime pact with Australia earlier this month.
The Philippines on Sunday accused a Chinese coast guard of “excessive and offensive” use of water cannons to stop a Filipino supply boat carrying food, water, fuel and new army personnel to a Philippine-occupied shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
“The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) strongly condemns the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannons against the PCG vessels,” the Philippine Coast Guard said.
Condemning the belligerence allegedly shown by the Chinese coast guard, the Philippines’ armed forces said the Chinese vessel’s actions were “in wanton disregard of the safety of the people on board and in violation of international law.”
The encounter between the Filipino boat and the Chinese vessel took place when Philippine navy personnel were moving towards Second Thomas in the Spratly Islands, according to Philippines officials.
Because of the clash, a second chartered boat was unable to drop supplies, military spokesman Colonel Medel Aguilar said in a statement. (Int’l News Desk)
