MANILA: The Philippines accused China on Tuesday (Jan 14) of intimidating its fishermen at a disputed South China Sea shoal, and normalising an “illegal presence”, after Beijing sent its largest coast guard vessel into Manila’s maritime zone.
The move comes against the backdrop of rising tension between the Philippines, a US treaty ally, and Beijing during the past two years, stemming from their overlapping claims in the busy waterway of the South China Sea.
The Philippines has protested this month against the entry of Chinese vessels in its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including the 165m long ship 5901, last spotted 143km off the western province of Zambales.
Jonathan Malaya, a spokesperson for the Philippines’ National Security Council, reiterated a call for Beijing to withdraw from Manila’s waters the “monster ship” he said was deployed to intimidate its fishermen around Scarborough Shoal.
“We were surprised about the increasing aggression being showed by the People’s Republic of China in deploying the monster ship,” Malaya told a press conference.
“It is an escalation and provocative,” Malaya added, calling the presence of the vessel “illegal” and “unacceptable”.
“It is also a clear attempt to intimidate our fishermen and deprive them of their legitimate livelihood.”
China’s embassy in Manila said the shoal, which it calls “Huangyan Dao”, is China’s territory, and its actions are in “full accordance with the law”.
“It is fully justified,” the embassy said in a statement.