China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly around outcroppings in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. File
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. File photo
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Philippines on Monday (January 13, 2025) called on Beijing to desist from “escalatory actions” at a South China Sea shoal and said a protest has been lodged over the presence of Chinese coast guard, militia and navy in its exclusive economic zone.

Also read:Philippines says China ‘biggest disruptor’ of peace in Southeast Asia

The protest stems from the presence of two coast guard vessels on Jan. 5 and Jan. 10 in and around the disputed Scarborough shoal, one of which was a 165 m (541ft) long boat referred to by the Philippines as “the monster”. It said a Chinese navy helicopter was also deployed in the area.

“The escalatory actions of these Chinese vessels and aircraft disregard Philippine and international laws,” said the Philippines’ national maritime council, an inter-agency group tasked with upholding the country’s interests at sea.

“China should direct its vessels to desist from conducting illegal actions that violate Philippines’ sovereign rights in its EEZ,” it said in a statement.

China yet to respond to charges

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China says the Scarborough Shoal is its territory and has accused the Philippines of trespassing.

Tensions between China and the U.S. ally the Philippines have escalated the past two years, with frequent run-ins between their coast guards in the South China Sea, which China claims sovereignty over almost in its entirety.

The statement came just hours after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had a virtual call with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba where the three leaders discussed China’s conduct in the South China Sea.

China’s expansive claims overlaps with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The disputed waterway is a strategic shipping route through which about $3 trillion of annual commerce moves.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal said Beijing’s claims, based on its historic maps, have no basis under international law, a decision China does not recognise.

MANILA:

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Sunday condemned Chinese air force actions in waters of the South China Sea claimed by both countries, calling the actions “unjustified, illegal and reckless”.

Manila and Beijing accused each other on Saturday of disrupting their militaries’ operations around the Scarborough Shoal in the first incident since Marcos took office in 2022 in which the Philippines has complained of dangerous actions by Chinese aircraft, as opposed to navy or coast guard vessels.

The Philippine military on Saturday condemned “dangerous and provocative actions” when two Chinese aircraft dropped flares in the path of a Philippine aircraft during a routine patrol around the shoal on Thursday.

The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command countered that the Philippines had disrupted its training, accusing Manila of “illegally intruding” into Chinese airspace.

On Sunday, Marcos urged China to act responsibly both in the seas and in the skies.

“We have hardly started to calm the waters, and it is already worrying that there could be instability in our airspace,” Marcos said in a statement posted by the Presidential Communications Office on the social media platform X.

The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

The Scarborough Shoal is one of Asia’s most contested maritime features and a flashpoint for flare-ups over sovereignty and fishing rights.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that Beijing’s expansive claims had no basis under international law.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

“We sternly warn the Philippines to immediately stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hype,” Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army statement said. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The Philippine military on Saturday accused China’s air force of “dangerous and provocative actions” against one of its planes patrolling over a disputed South China Sea reef.

Two China air force aircraft “executed a dangerous manoeuvre at around 9:00 a.m. and dropped flares in the path of our NC-212i,” armed forces chief General Romeo Brawner said in a statement, recounting the alleged incident on Thursday “over” Scarborough Shoal.

He said the Chinese action “endangered the lives of our personnel undertaking maritime security operations,” adding that the pilot and crew were unharmed and “safely returned” to a northern Philippines air base.

China defended its operations on Saturday, saying it had “organised naval and air forces to lawfully… (drive) away” the Philippine plane, following “repeated warnings”, according to a statement by the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army.

The statement did not say what specific actions China took, describing its operations as “professional, standard, legitimate and legal”.

“We sternly warn the Philippines to immediately stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hype,” the statement said, adding that “China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal) and adjacent waters”.

The incident is the latest in an increasingly tense confrontation between Manila and Beijing, which claims most of the South China Sea and seized the shoal after a 2012 standoff with the Philippines.

In June, the Philippine military said one of its sailors lost a thumb in a confrontation off Second Thomas Shoal, in another area of the South China Sea, when the Chinese coastguard also confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment including guns.

Beijing has blamed the escalation on Manila and maintains its actions to protect its claims are legal and proportional.

Following the Second Thomas Shoal clash, the two countries agreed on a “provisional arrangement” for resupplying Filipino troops based on a decrepit warship grounded atop the reef, and also to increase the number of communication lines to resolve disputes in the waterway.

The Chinese air force action Thursday took place a day after China carried out a combat patrol near the flashpoint reef to test the “strike capabilities” of its troops.

‘Provocative actions’

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims of several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Scarborough Shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks, is 240 kilometres (150 miles) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometres from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.

Brawner said the Philippine military “strongly condemns the dangerous and provocative actions of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force that endangered the lives of our personnel undertaking maritime security operations recently within Philippine maritime zones”.

“The incident posed a threat to Philippine Air Force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction, and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation,” he added.

A Philippine military spokesman told AFP the Chinese aircraft involved in the incident were “MRF”, an abbreviation for multi-role fighter jets.

The Indonesia-built NC-212i is a multi-role turboprop plane designed for maritime surveillance, troop transport, medical evacuation and “special mission”, according to the manufacturer’s website.

In this image made from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Coast Guard vessel, BRP BAGACAY (MRRV-4410) is water cannoned by Chinese Coast Guards as it tried to approach the waters near Scarborough Shoal locally known as Bajo De Masinloc at the South China Sea on April 30, 2024
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels on April 30 near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing minor damage to one vessel, in the latest flareup in an increasingly tense territorial conflict.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the incident off Scarborough Shoal, one of two hotly disputed areas where confrontations between China and the Philippines have flared on and off since last year.

Also read: South China Sea | Asia’s disputed waters

A Philippine coast guard ship and an accompanying fisheries vessel were patrolling the waters off Scarborough Shoal when four Chinese coast guard ships, backed by six suspected militia ships, executed dangerous blocking maneuvers, Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said.

A Chinese coast guard ship used a water cannon against the fisheries vessel, the BRP Bankaw, and two other Chinese coast guard ships hit the Philippine coast guard ship, the BRP Bagacay, simultaneously from both sides, damaging part of its deck railing and a canopy, Tarriela said.

Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment. They have repeatedly insisted on China’s sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea, a key global trade route, and warned they would defend their territory at any cost.

The Philippine vessels pressed on with their patrol despite the Chinese coast guard’s actions, Tarriela said,

“They were not deterred and will persist in carrying out their legitimate operations to support Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety,” Tarriela said in a statement. He said the Philippine ships were deployed to distribute fuel and food to Filipino fishermen on the high seas.

The Chinese coast guard has also re-installed a floating barrier across the entrance to the shoal’s vast fishing lagoon, he said. The Philippine coast guard removed a similar barrier in the past to allow Filipinos to fish in the lagoon.

In addition to the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the territorial disputes.

The increasing frequency of the skirmishes between the Philippines and China, which have injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged supply boats in the past, has sparked fears the territorial conflict could degenerate into an armed confrontation that could put China and the United States on a collision course.

The U.S. lays no claims to the South China Sea but has warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, a longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack including in the contested waters.

A Philippine Coast Guard personnel cuts the rope connecting the floating barrier that was installed near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, in an undated handout photo released on September 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Philippine officials vowed Monday to remove a floating barrier placed by China’s coast guard to prevent Filipino fishing boats from entering a disputed lagoon in the South China Sea.

They said the 300 metre-long barrier at the entrance to the lagoon at Scarborough Shoal is “illegal and illegitimate.” Chinese coast guard vessels laid the barrier, held up by buoys, on Friday as a Philippine government fisheries vessel approached. More than 50 Philippine fishing boats were outside the shoal at the time, the Philippine coast guard said.

“We condemn the installation of floating barriers by the Chinese coast guard,” Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said. “The placement by the People’s Republic of China of a barrier violates the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen.”

Mr. Ano said in a statement that 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.” He did not elaborate.

Also Read: The Philippines weighs legal options against China over coral reef ‘destruction’

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the shoal and its adjacent waters are “China’s inherent territory,” where Beijing “has indisputable sovereignty.”

A Philippine government fisheries vessel “trespassed into the waters” without China’s permission on September 22, Mr. Wang said, and “attempted to intrude into the lagoon” of the shoal. “China’s coast guard took the necessary measures to stop and warn off the ship in accordance with the law, which was professional and with restraint,” he added.

It’s the latest flare-up in long-simmering territorial disputes in the busy and resource-rich waterway, most of which is claimed by China. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are involved with China in the conflicts, which have long been regarded as a potential Asian flashpoint and a delicate fault line in the U.S.-China rivalry in the region.

Washington lays no claim to the sea passageway, a major global trade route, but U.S. Navy ships and fighter jets have carried out patrols for decades to challenge China’s expansive claims and promote freedom of navigation and overflight. China has told the U.S. to stop meddling in what it says is a purely Asian dispute.

The Chinese barrier denies Filipinos access to the rich fishing lagoon surrounded by underwater coral outcrops, Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said.

He said China’s coast guard installs the removable barrier when Philippine fishing boats show up in large numbers near the shoal.

“It’s an illegal and illegitimate action coming from the People’s Republic of China,” Mr. Tarriela told reporters. “Definitely it affects our food security.”

A Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ship which anchored off Scarborough on Friday and at least 54 Filipino fishing boats were ordered by four Chinese coast guard ships by radio to leave the territory, saying the Filipinos were breaching Chinese and international law. The Philippine fisheries ship insisted in its radio response that it was on a routine patrol in Philippine waters, Tarriela said.

The Philippines says Scarborough Shoal lies within its exclusive economic zone, a 200-nautical mile stretch of water where coastal states have exclusive rights to fish and other resources.

Those rights were upheld by a 2016 arbitration decision set up under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ano said.

China refused to participate in the arbitration sought by the Philippines in 2013, a year after a tense standoff between Chinese and Philippine ships at Scarborough. Beijing refused to recognize the 2016 arbitration ruling and continues to defy it.

The 2012 standoff ended with Chinese ships seizing and surrounding the atoll.

Chinese coast guard ships have also blocked Philippine government vessels delivering supplies and personnel to Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, resulting in near-collisions that the Philippine government has condemned and protested.

Washington has said it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack, including in the South China Sea.