9 JULY, CATO, PHILIPPINES: Randy Megu, a Filipino fisherman, has survived storms in the South China Sea before, but his greatest dread these days is seeing a Chinese maritime police vessel on the horizon. Megu, 48, believes that contacts with Chinese boats are more frequent than ever five years after a landmark international arbitration court verdict rejected China’s claims to the waters where he fishes.
“I was terrified,” Megu said, recalling how, in May, a Chinese vessel stalked his wooden outrigger boat for three hours 140 nautical miles (260 kilometers) off the shore.
Other fishermen, he said, had been slammed or blasted with water cannons while operating in what they thought to be their ancient fishing grounds, which they had planned to secure following the 2016 verdict in The Hague.
China’s foreign ministry reaffirmed on Friday that the ruling, as well as any claims or acts based on it, were unacceptable. China claims the majority of the waters inside the so-called Nine Dash Line, which Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam also claim.
The foreign ministry stated in a statement to Reuters that Chinese fishing vessels operating in the area are doing so in accordance with domestic and international law, and that they are not subject to China’s annual summer fishing embargo, which runs until August 16.
Zone of economic exclusivity
In a single event in March, the Philippines claimed that more than 200 Chinese militia vessels had entered its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which spans 200 nautical miles off its coast.
China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a query regarding Chinese ships in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in its statement. The boats were sheltering from stormy seas, according to Chinese diplomats, and there were no militia on board.
“The data is extremely obvious here,” said Greg Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “Chinese Coast Guard ships and militia are in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in greater numbers than they were five years ago.”
According to a poll conducted in July 2020, 70% of Filipinos want the government to assert its claim to the South China Sea.
In a statement last month, Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin stated, “We resolutely oppose attempts to undermine it; nay, even to delete it from law, history, and our communal memories.”
Since 2016, the Philippines has lodged 128 diplomatic protests against China’s activity in disputed waters, and coast guard and bureau of fisheries vessels have conducted “sovereign” patrols in the EEZ.
The Philippines, on the other hand, has done nothing else to assert its claim as a firebrand nation. President Rodrigo Duterte, who has made China a crucial aspect of his foreign policy, has stated that challenging its significantly larger neighbor is “inutile.”
Duterte prevented some of his cabinet members from speaking out after they increased their vitriol over the waters earlier this year.
“China has a stronger grip on the situation. The only thing the Duterte administration can claim is that there hasn’t been a significant incident “Poling remarked. “Of course there won’t be a fight if you just keep yielding to the bully.”
Requests for comment from the Philippine coast guard and minister of defense were not returned.
China’s presence has expanded throughout the South China Sea. It has continued to fortify manmade islands with safe ports, airstrips, and anti-air missile defenses.
Energy initiatives have been hampered by tensions with Vietnam. Malaysia has expressed dissatisfaction with the operations of Chinese ships. Indonesia, although not being a claimant state, has expressed worry about their existence.
The US Navy’s occasional freedom of navigation operations have questioned China’s claims, but they appear to have had no effect on Beijing’s decision to deploy vessels around the Philippines and elsewhere.
Duterte promised before his victory in 2016 that he would defend his country’s claims in the South China Sea.
He is set to leave office at the conclusion of his single six-year term next year, but speculation that he could be appointed vice president or followed by his daughter has prompted questions about policy changes.
Pangasinan fisherman see little chance of defying the Chinese warships that now control their movements.
“Now it’s like if we’re stealing from our own backyard,” said Christopher de Vera, a 51-year-old fisherman./n
