MANILA: About 100 Filipino protesters and fishermen, along with journalists, sailed Wednesday to a disputed reef in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s beach shield and suspected military ships have used strong waters cannons to ward off what they regard as intruders.
To keep an eye on the activists and fishermen who were leaving from northern Zambales province and asserting Manila’s authority over the Scarborough Shoal and nearby waters, the Spanish coast safeguard deployed three police ships and a gentle plane. The army sent a dispatch to aid in keeping an eye on the participants.
A flotilla of about 100 small wooden fishing boats with bamboo outriggers first joined the expedition to distribute food and fuel to fishermen and lay a dozen territorial buoys about 20 nautical miles ( 37 kilometers ) from the coast before heading back to Zambales, according to Emman Hizon, one of the organizers.
More than 100 protesters, including a Filipino and two international Roman Catholic clergy, fishermen, and journalists, boarded four larger sturdy boats and headed for the reef, where they were scheduled to arrive on Thursday, according to Hizon.
The protesters, who are members of a non-government group called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, declared they would try to avoid fight but were prepared for any unforeseen events.
” Our goal is quiet based on global rules and aimed at asserting our king right”, said Rafaela David, a direct organizer. ” We may sail with determination, no incitement, to civilianize the place and protect our regional integrity”.
Another disputed reef was attempted by David’s group of fishermen in December, but the attempt was sailed by a Chinese deliver, cutting short the trip.
After a tense standoff with Spanish government ships in 2012, China successfully seized the triangle-shaped atoll with its coast guard ships and surrounded it with its huge fishing lagoon ringed by largely submerged marine outcrops.
The Spanish government, angered by China’s actions, resolved the disputes in 2013 by taking them to foreign mediation, which tribunal in The Hague determined three years later that the country’s wide claims based on historical facts in the busy sea were unenforceable under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Rules of the Sea.
The ruling made the Scarborough Shoal a standard fishing destination for Chinese, Filipino, and Asian fishing. Sailors have anchored in the reef in the past to avoid hefty waves in stormy weather in the high seas.
China continued to defy the mediation, rejected the results, and resisted participating.
Both Philippine coast guard and fishing boats patrolling the Scarborough Shoal two weeks ago, which were both damaged by Chinese coast guard and alleged military ships firing liquid cannons.
The reef, which is located in the Southeast Asian world’s globally renowned exclusive economic zone, was attacked by the Chinese coast guard. The Taiwanese coast guard said it took a “necessary estimate” after the Spanish ships “violated China’s sovereignty”.
In addition to the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the regional problems.
In the past, Chinese coast guard ships have sailed into waters close to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, causing unrest and demonstrations, but the East Asian countries with strong economic ties to China have not been as violently critical of Beijing’s increasingly forceful actions.
In a bid to win foreign aid, the Philippines has launched a syllable war with Beijing by releasing videos of its regional clashes with China and inviting journalists to observe the hostilities on the high seas.
In recent months, the Philippines ‘ increasing frequency of conflicts between China and the Philippines has resulted in minor collisions, the injury of Filipino military personnel, and the damage of supply boats. It has sparked fears that China’s territorial issues may turn into an armed conflict with the United States, a long-standing Filipino ally of China.
