In response to China’s attempt to bar Filipino fishermen from a hotly contested shoal in the South China Sea, the Philippines promised on Tuesday that it would not back down, while Beijing issued a warning to the Southeast Asian country not to “provoke and cause trouble.”
The remarks were made a day after Manila sent coastguard troops disguised as fishermen in a small boat to break a floating 300-m (980-ft) barrier put up by Beijing at the shoal, one of Asia’s most contentious marine features.
The action, which the Philippines described as a “special operation,” would worsen already strained relations.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard, told CNN Philippines that “they might still return the floating barrier once more, they might still do shadowing, and they might still engage in dangerous maneuvers once more.”
He claimed that China’s coastguard had even removed the broken ball-buoy barrier’s remains and had reacted calmly to the presence of its warship, which had been the closest to the vital atoll since China had taken control of it in 2012.
The Filipino people have demonstrated to the rest of the world that they will not back down, and Tarriela declared that they would continue to do whatever it would take to keep them in the world.
Years of intermittent arguments about sovereignty have taken place in the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing location 200 km (124 miles) off the coast of the Philippines and within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
China has accused the Philippines of “intruding” into waters that were unquestionably Chinese and named the rocky outcrop Huangyan Island. It advised Manila to avoid provocations on Tuesday.
“China firmly upholds the sovereignty & maritime rights of Huangyan Island, and we respectfully advise the Philippines side to avoid any attempts to provoke and cause trouble,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a routine press briefing.
The shoal has been the subject of frequent disputes between the Philippines and China, but under the previous pro-China administration in Manila, hostilities have subsided.
Relationships have worsened this year, meanwhile, as the country’s new president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who gave the go-ahead for the cutting of the cordon, tries to improve ties with an ally in the United States.
As part of these efforts, the Philippine bases were opened up to the U.S. military, a decision China criticized as provocative and likely to inflame regional instability.
This year, the two nations’ vessels have clashed many times in the Philippine EEZ.
Beijing’s coastguard has been charged by Manila with risky and aggressive behavior, including employing a military-grade laser to thwart resupply missions for troops stationed on a rusted, grounded cruiser.
According to China, occupation is forbidden.
An expert claimed on Monday that Philippine decision-makers were working under the direction of a United States determined to start wars in order to control Beijing, according to the Chinese nationalist tabloid The Global Times, which cited the expert.
Beijing is sensitive about who controls the shoal, which is around 850 km (528 miles) off the coast of China. For the past ten years, coastguard ships and fishing boats have been stationed there continuously.
The shoal was a key element in a case the Philippines brought before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, which found in 2016 that China’s claim to the majority of the South China Sea lacked legal support.
China does not accept the judgment.