The Philippines on Saturday accused Chinese Coast Guard ships of “dangerous” maneuvers after repeatedly blocking Philippine vessels delivering supplies to fishermen on reefs off the Southeast Asian country’s coast.
The incidents occurred near the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal on Thursday and Friday, days after the Philippine Coast Guard made similar charges against Chinese fishing vessels in the same waters.
The disputed Scarborough Shoal, a triangular series of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea, has been a flashpoint between the two countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
Since then, the Chinese government has deployed patrol boats that Manila says are harassing Philippine fishing boats and preventing them from reaching the fish-rich lagoon.
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In a recent incident, a Chinese Navy ship, a Chinese Coast Guard ship, and other Chinese vessels pursued a Philippine vessel belonging to the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources that was transporting food and fuel to Filipino fishermen. I was able to spend more time there. Pursue bigger prey.
AFP correspondents and journalists from several local media outlets boarded the BRP Datu Tambroto in the Philippines for a three-day round trip.
The Datu Tambrot and China Coast Guard vessels repeatedly provoked each other by radio, accusing each side of violating the other’s territorial waters.
On four separate occasions, Chinese coast guard vessels temporarily stopped the Datu Tambrot by cutting across its bow as it approached shallow water and temporarily halting its course.
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“It is extremely dangerous for any vessel to cross the bow of another vessel and it is not allowed,” Philippine Coast Guard Brigadier General Jay Tarriera told a news conference in Manila.
West Philippine Sea Coast Guard spokesman Tarriera said such actions could “produce a conflict.”
Despite China’s actions, the Datu Tamburo was able to reach within a few kilometers of the shallows and deliver 21,000 liters (5,550 gallons) of diesel and other food to 19 Philippine fishing boats, Tarriera said. It is said that it was completed.
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Scarborough Shoal is 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from the nearest major Chinese landmass, Hainan Island.
China claims almost all of the sea, ignoring international court rulings that say its claims have no legal basis.
The incident follows last year’s tense standoff between China and the Philippines near a disputed reef in the South China Sea, which resulted in ships from both countries colliding and a Chinese vessel spraying water on a Philippine vessel. It happened later.