The Philippines has lodged a formal protest with China over the deployment of its largest coast guard vessel within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, Al Jazeera reports.
The move, according to Philippine officials, is a clear attempt to intimidate Filipino fishermen operating near a disputed shoal.
National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya revealed on Tuesday that the 165-meter Chinese coast guard vessel 5901 was spotted 77 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales province, well within the Philippines’ EEZ. Manila has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the vessel.
The Philippine Coast Guard responded by deploying two of its own largest vessels to the area in an attempt to drive away the Chinese ship. However, the Chinese government has defended its actions.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun, on Monday, asserted that its coast guard’s “patrol and law enforcement activities” in the area were “reasonable, lawful, and beyond reproach.”
The Philippine National Maritime Council also condemned, on Monday, the “illegal presence and operations” of “Chinese maritime forces and militia” within Philippine territorial waters and its EEZ. The council specifically identified two Chinese coast guard ships and a Chinese naval helicopter, which it said had “hovered above” a Philippine coast guard vessel.
This latest incident adds to a pattern of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China over overlapping claims in the South China Sea. These tensions have significantly increased over the past two years.
A 2016 international tribunal ruling invalidated China’s expansive claims to large swathes of the disputed waterway, however, Beijing has consistently rejected the ruling.
China’s territorial claims overlap with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The South China Sea is a vital shipping route, handling approximately $3 trillion of global trade annually.
