Now it’s about Zoff between the Philippines and China

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Tensions in the dispute over a strategically important sea area rich in resources between China and the Philippines continue. More than 100 Chinese ships have been in the South China Sea in the past week, according to the island state’s coast guard.

They allegedly blocked Philippine Coast Guard patrol boats and sometimes performed “dangerous maneuvers”. For example, on April 21, a Chinese naval vessel near the island of Pagasa — also called Thitu — asked Philippine Coast Guard boats to leave the area. The island is halfway between the Philippines and Vietnam and is also claimed by China.

A spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard said the Beijing naval vessel had threatened that non-compliance “could cause a problem”. However, their ships would not have bowed to this and instead made it clear that they were in the area and asked the Chinese navy to divert immediately.

Artificial islands piled up

Two days later, Chinese Coast Guard vessels encountered two Philippine Coast Defense vessels using “aggressive tactics”. The incident happened near Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef belonging to the Spratly Islands.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has built artificial islands to support its claims. This particularly affects strategically important and resource-rich areas, which countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines claim for themselves. The United States and China’s neighbors accuse Beijing of increasing militarization of the region. The International Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Chinese territorial claims in 2016, which China has ignored. (SDA)

Source: Blick