MANILA - The Philippines will keep up support for the country's fishermen near the Scarborough Shoal, said an official on Sept 17, despite China's increased efforts to assert control after designating the disputed atoll a national nature reserve.
"We will not stop patrolling Bajo de Masinloc," said Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela, using the Philippines' name for the shoal at a press conference in Manila. "Our operations will go on to ensure the safety and livelihood of Filipino fishermen."
He added that China is in no position to use environment protection in its claims over the shoal, citing Beijing's artificial island-building activities in the South China Sea over the years.
"We have seen how China destroyed the seabed of all those reclaimed islands that they have in the entire South China Sea," Mr Tarriela said. "It's a hard sell for China to convince the international community that they are environmentalists nowadays."
His comments came a day after the
China Coast Guard fired a water cannon against Philippine ships
near the disputed shoal in the South China Sea, damaging a Philippine fisheries vessel and injuring one crew member.
The incident marked the first time that Beijing issued an impromptu warning of a live-fire drill in the area, noted Mr Tarriela, though no such exercise ultimately took place.
On Sept 16, the China Coast Guard said it used verbal warnings and water cannon spraying to expel Philippine vessels out of its territorial waters. It alleged that an official Philippine vessel had engaged in dangerous manoeuvres and deliberately rammed one of its ships.
Mr Tarriela said despite the pressure from China, the Philippine mission completed its resupply run for 40 fishing boats on Sept 16, and this showed that China "does not have effective control" of the shoal.
The latest clash between the two sides in the South China Sea comes after
Beijing on Sept 10 announced the nature reserve designation for Huangyan Dao
- China's name for the shoal.
Analysts point to a broader strategic contest behind the recent confrontation.
Beijing is recalibrating its pressure campaign in a bid to recover from an Aug 11 mishap involving a collision of two Chinese ships at Scarborough Shoal, they noted.
Manila is asserting its presence not just to support its fishermen but also to signal that it will not be pushed out of its own exclusive economic zone.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea. The Philippines regards Chinese claims in the West Philippine Sea as illegal, under a 2016 landmark ruling by an international tribunal. The West Philippine Sea is the name used by Manila for parts of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone.
The ruling said it was illegal for China to restrict access to Scarborough, declaring it a common fishing ground for countries including the Philippines, China and Vietnam.
China is "falling back on old tactics" at Scarborough but repackaging them under the guise of environmental protection, Dr Collin Koh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told The Straits Times
He said Beijing's nature reserve announcement, made shortly after the Aug 11 mishap, is being used to justify tighter control and more aggressive responses to Philippine activity.
"China is trying to put its feet down and demonstrate that it means business with the national nature reserve (plan). And more broadly, it's trying to dissuade the Philippines against operating regularly around the area," he added.
China's live-fire warning was aimed squarely at several fishing boats on Sept 16, which Dr Koh believed was meant to spook the Filipinos away.
"The impromptu live-fire exercise warning is meant to impress upon them (fishermen) that they (China) could do this sort of thing anytime so if you want to fish in the area, please think twice," he added.
Professor Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative in Beijing, offers a different reading. While acknowledging the rising tensions at Scarborough Shoal, he said the situation "should still be within control" and added that the Philippines' large deployment of vessels was provocative.
The Philippine mission to the shoal on Sept 16 comprised two Coast Guard ships, 10 vessels from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and one civilian ship.
"Regardless of whether China has designated Scarborough Shoal as a nature reserve, the Philippines would have continued its provocations," he told ST.
Analysts in China told local state media that Beijing's move to designate the shoal as a nature reserve can offer opportunities for international cooperation in less sensitive areas such as marine environmental protection "under appropriate conditions and when the timing is mature".
For now, the Philippines is banking on its continued presence at the disputed shoal to reassure its fishermen, even with China's nature reserve plans looming over the horizon.
"We don't really care about such statements. We are not going to hesitate to still maintain our presence at Bajo de Masinloc," said Mr Tarriela.
Dr Koh warns that the long game will test Manila's endurance and risk appetite when it comes to Beijing.
He said if China begins to detain Filipino fishermen, under the pretext of violating a supposed no-go zone once the nature reserve is in place, both nations could face a deeper diplomatic and security crisis.