On May 4, a vessel identified by the Philippine Coast Guard as a Chinese Maritime Militia (back right) and a Chinese Coast Guard vessel (front right) sailing near the Philippine military sailed toward the Second Thomas Reef in the Philippines. Unayzah was chartered during a resupply mission (left). On March 5, 2024, the two countries disputed territorial rights in the South China Sea.
Jamstarosa | AFP | Getty Images
China on Friday accused the Philippines of “causing trouble” in the South China Sea with U.S. support, a week after China and Manila exchanged accusations over fresh clashes in disputed waters.
“The Philippine side, with the support and request of the United States, is causing trouble in many places in the South China Sea,” Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian said on his official WeChat account.
He added: “The Philippines is well aware that the extent of its territory is determined by a series of international treaties and has never included China’s Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.”
China and Manila have been involved in a series of clashes this year on reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea, almost all of which is claimed by China.
The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea. They are concerned that China’s vast claims encroach on their exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a non-territorial sea that extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the country’s coast.
The Philippine National Maritime Council and National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Beijing’s recent statements.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet also did not respond to a request for comment.
Philippine officials said last week that a Chinese coast guard vessel sprayed water and caused a Manila Fisheries Department vessel to skid while delivering supplies to Filipino fishermen near Scarborough Shoal, an action that drew condemnation from the United States.
The Chinese Coast Guard announced that four Philippine vessels attempted to enter what the Chinese government calls its territorial waters near Scarborough Shoal, which the Chinese government calls Huangyan Island.
Earlier this month, China submitted nautical charts to the United Nations supporting its claims to the area, which an international tribunal in 2016 recognized as a long-established fishing ground for fishermen of many nationalities.
Following the chart submission, a spokesperson for the National Maritime Council of the Philippines said China’s claims were baseless and illegal.
In 2016, the tribunal ruled that China’s claims had no basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and that the blockade around Scarborough Shoal violated international law.
The Chinese government has never acknowledged this decision.
Sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal has not been established.
The Philippines and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have spent years negotiating a code of conduct for the strategic waterway with Beijing, which some countries in the region claim is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. are.
EEZs give coastal states jurisdiction over living and non-living resources in the water and seabed.
