MANILA: The Philippines on Sunday (Feb 25) accused the Chinese coast guard of making an attempt to dam a Filipino authorities vessel delivering provides to fishermen, the second such alleged incident close to a disputed reef in two weeks.
The BRP Datu Sanday was supplying gasoline to fishermen close to the Scarborough Shoal when it was harassed by a China Coast Guard vessel and three different Chinese ships on Feb 22, the Philippine Coast Guard mentioned.
Three of the 4 Chinese vessels got here inside 100m of Datu Sanday’s bow, it mentioned in an incident report that additionally listed shadowing, vessel transponder jamming and different “dangerous manoeuvres”.
“Despite these manoeuvres, the skipper of BRP Datu Sanday exhibited excellent seamanship skills and managed to evade the blocking attempts,” mentioned Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Filipino coast guard spokesman on South China Sea points.
Every week earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard mentioned the BRP Datu Tamblot had an identical encounter within the space.
Scarborough Shoal – a triangular chain of reefs and rocks – has been a flashpoint between the nations since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
Since then, Beijing has deployed patrol boats that Manila says harass Philippine vessels and stop Filipino fishermen from accessing a fish-rich lagoon there.
On social media, China’s state-run Global Times mentioned on Saturday that the China Coast Guard had repelled the Datu Sanday “when the vessel illegally intruded into waters adjacent to China’s Huangyan Island”, utilizing the Chinese title for the shoal.
Scarborough Shoal lies 240km west of the Philippines’ predominant island of Luzon and practically 900km from the closest main Chinese land mass of Hainan.
China claims virtually your entire sea and has ignored a world tribunal ruling that its assertions haven’t any authorized foundation.
Tense standoffs between China and the Philippines round disputed reefs final yr noticed collisions and Chinese ships blasting water cannons at Philippine boats.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/philippines-china-coast-guard-scarborough-shoal-south-china-sea-4148086
