MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The Philippine government has expressed concern after noticing more than 200 Chinese fishing boats manned by militias at a reef claimed by both countries in the South China Sea, but did not immediately respond. do not argue.
A government body overseeing the disputed region said late Saturday that about 220 Chinese vessels were moored at Whitsun Reef on March 7. Pictures of the vessels were laid side by side in one of the most disputed areas of the strategic waterway.
The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is a boomerang-shaped and shallow coral region about 175 nautical miles (324 kilometers) west of the city of Bataraza in the western Philippine province of Palawan. It is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone, over which the Philippines ‘has the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources’, the agency said in a statement.
The large number of Chinese boats is a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as the risks to the safety of navigation, ” he said, although it added that the vessels did not fish as they saw does not become.
Asked if the Philippines would file a protest, Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin tweeted: “only if the generals tell me so.”
Chinese embassy officials did not immediately comment. China, the Philippines and four other governments have been locked in a strained territorial dispute over the resource-rich and busy waterway for decades.
Critics have repeatedly called on President Rodrigo Duterte, who has cherished friendly ties since taking office in 2016 for failing to uphold China’s aggressive behavior, and decided not to immediately pursue Chinese compliance with an international arbitration award strives to invalidate Beijing’s historical claims. the whole sea. China has refused to recognize the 2016 ruling and continues to defy it.
The arbitration body also ruled that China had violated its duty to respect the traditional fishing rights of the Philippines when Chinese troops blocked them in 2012 from Scarborough Shoal in the northwestern Philippines. However, the Philippines could not deny Chinese fishermen access to Scarborough. to the verdict. The decision did not specify any other traditional fishing areas in the exclusive territory of the Philippines where fishermen from China and other countries may fish.
“If Xi says ‘I will fish’, who can stop him? Duterte said two years ago when he defended his non-confrontational approach, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“If I send my marines to expel the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee that none of them will come home alive,” Duterte said, adding that diplomatic talks with Beijing made possible the return of the Philippines to the controversial fishing grounds where Chinese troops had previously chased them away.
Duterte sought infrastructure funds, trade and investment from China, which also donated and promised to deliver more COVID-19 vaccines, as the Philippines has a alarming increase in coronavirus infections.