Philippines urges fishermen to maintain presence at China-held shoal

On Wednesday, the Philippine coastguard urged the nation’s fishermen to continue working at the contested Scarborough Shoal and other locations in the South China Sea, promising to increase patrols there despite a sizable Chinese presence.

In a daring move in a region Beijing has dominated with coastguard ships and a fleet of huge fishing vessels for more than ten years, the Philippine coastguard on Monday destroyed a 300 m (980 ft) floating barrier put up by China that barred access to the Scarborough Shoal.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the coast guard, stated that although Philippine warships were unable to maintain a continual presence, they were committed to defending the rights of fishermen within the EEZ of their nation.

“We’re going to increase patrols in Bajo de Masinloc and other areas where Filipino fishermen are,” he told DZRH radio, referring to the shoal, one of Asia’s most contested maritime features, by its Philippine name.

According to the Philippines, China’s response at the shoal, which Beijing refers to as Huangyan Island, has been temperate thus far.

The Philippines had previously received advice from China’s foreign ministry to avoid provocations and not provoke trouble, but on Wednesday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the ministry, expressed a more critical viewpoint.

“I would also like to reiterate once again. Huangyan Island is China’s inherent territory,” he told a regular briefing.

“The so-called operation of the Philippine side is a purely self-indulgent farce.”

Gilbert Teodoro, the secretary of defence for the Philippines, claimed that the country’s decision to cut the cordon was not provocative.

“We are reacting to their action,” he said during a senate hearing on Wednesday.

The rocky protrusion in the middle of the sea has seen a lot of diplomatic disputes. The shoal, a popular fishing location about 200 kilometres (124 miles) off the coast of the Philippines and 850 kilometres (530 miles) from mainland China and its southern island of Hainan, is claimed by both nations.

Control of the shoal is strategically important to Beijing, which asserts sovereignty over most of the South China Sea because it is close to maritime lanes that carry an estimated $3.4 trillion worth of goods annually.

These allegations hamper neighbouring Southeast Asian nations’ offshore oil and gas and fishery operations.

The closest point to the atoll since China took the Scarborough Shoal was 300 metres (980 feet) away from a vessel that the Philippine Fisheries Bureau successfully docked there, according to a Coastguard official.

It was unclear whether China’s construction of a barrier signalled a change from the situation that had prevailed since 2017, when the coastguard in Beijing had let Filipinos to operate there, albeit on a far smaller scale than Chinese vessels.

It happens in the midst of strained relations, with the Philippines acting more assertively about China’s coastguard’s behaviour in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and strengthening its military connections with ally the United States by boosting access to its bases.

“The Scarborough Shoal is closer to the Philippines,” said fisherman Pepito Fabros who had come ashore in the province of Zambales between trips to sea.

“Why are they stopping us from entering?”

(With agency inputs)