Neighbourhood issue: Amid China tensions, Manila gets bolder

Tensions between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea — a key shipping route that sees trillions worth of global trade transiting each year — have recently increased. The Second Thomas Shoal, also known as the Ayungin Shoal, is a disputed area in the South China Sea, controlled by the Philippines military but claimed as its own by China.

In April, a Chinese coast guard vessel nearly collided with a Philippines fishing boat in disputed waters, as it attempted to block a Philippine patrol vessel in the South China Sea. This occurred a day after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr met Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Manila. The Philippines coast guard accused China of “aggressive tactics” after the incident. In February, just one month after President Marcos Jr visited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, the Philippine Coast Guard had complained that the China Coast Guard had twice shone a military-grade laser at its ship, causing temporary blindness to the crew. Marcos later summoned the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian.

“The Philippines wants to enjoy its fishing rights within its [Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ], which China has denied since it began the occupation and militarization of some areas in the [South China Sea]. Before China started with its more aggressive actions, fishermen from many countries in the region could fish these areas freely,” Dr. Elaine Tolentino, an international relations analyst said. “The Philippines hopes that we could talk about fishing rights in the South China Sea and ensure the security of the country’s maritime territory,” she added. The EEZ, an area where sovereign states have jurisdiction over natural resources, was adopted under the UN Convention on the Sea in 1982.

Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have also complained of Chinese vessels encroaching its waters in recent years. In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippines in its long-running maritime dispute with China over claims of ownership of areas of the South China Sea. Beijing asserts that the territory within its so-called nine-dash line is its own, despite this being declared by The Hague as unlawful under international law. China rejects the ruling, which also found that Beijing’s recent land reclamation activities, and other activities in Philippine waters, were illegal.

Last week, President Marcos said that Beijing had agreed to “sit down” and discuss fishing rights. He reiterated that a “direct communication line” should be established and that the overall priority was to safeguard Philippine maritime security. He said that he had asked the Philippines Coast Guard and Department of Foreign Affairs to put together a map of fishing grounds to present to Beijing. But Jay Batongbacal, a maritime law professor at the University of the Philippines, is skeptical. “Even suggestions of new communications channels are pointless; the Philippines and China announced the establishment of a ‘hotline’ between coast guards in 2017, but it did nothing to change China’s aggressive behavior.”

He said that China had been “actively interfering with fishing activities” in the South China Sea since 2012. “It started as a result of it taking control of the Scarborough Shoal, approximately 124 nautical miles from Luzon, and eventually spread south to the Spratly Island region and the Philippine [Exclusive Economic Zone]. Since 2013, Chinese fishing vessels and maritime militia have been deployed in massive numbers to fish and anchor in the principal coral reefs and fishing grounds of Philippine fishers.”