Satellite photos of Scarborough Shoal/Reuters Yonhap News
China has clashed with the Philippines again near Scarborough Shoal, a disputed area in the South China Sea, just two days after submitting a map to the United Nations that marks Scarborough Shoal as its territorial waters.
According to Reuters and AFP, the Philippine Coast Guard stated that on the 4th, while conducting a routine patrol near Scarborough Shoal with the Department of Fisheries, the Chinese navy and coast guard behaved aggressively.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela claimed, “The Chinese coast guard fired water cannons at the Philippine coast guard vessel and collided with the side of our ship,” asserting that the water cannons aimed at the navigation antenna.
In contrast, the Chinese coast guard presented the opposite claim. They stated, “Philippine coast guard vessels, official vessels, and fishing boats intruded into the territorial waters of Huangyan Dao,” and during this process, “the Philippine official vessel 3003 ignored serious warnings, abruptly changed direction, reversed, and deliberately collided with Chinese coast guard vessel 3302.”
Liu Dejun, spokesperson for the Chinese coast guard, stated, “The Philippine side is attempting to distort facts and shift blame, under the pretext of protecting fishing activities, after initiating illegal provocations,” and demanded, “Immediately cease illegal provocations and manipulative incitement activities.”
AFP reported that the drone footage released by the Philippine side did not show the Filipino ship reversing.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy ambassador to the UN, submitted a map including Scarborough Shoal as Chinese maritime territory to Stephen Mathias, the Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs of the UN, on the 2nd. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army described this as a “legitimate measure to safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests under international law.”
Last month, on the 10th, China announced the ‘Huangyan Dao Territorial Sea Baseline,’ connecting 16 points around Scarborough Shoal, in response to the Philippines’ enactment of a law including the South China Sea region in its maritime zones law.
China claims sovereignty over about 90% of the South China Sea, causing conflicts with neighboring Southeast Asian countries.