China accuses Philippines of provoking tensions in the South Sea with US support, reinforcing dispute over territory and sovereignty
China accused the Philippines on Friday (13) of having “provoked trouble” in the South China Sea with US support, which Manila denied, as tensions between the two neighbors continue.
“The Philippine side, with the support and request of the US, has caused problems in many parts of the South China Sea,” said Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, on his official WeChat account.
“The Philippines is aware that the scope of its territory is determined by a series of international treaties and has never included China’s Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal,” he added.
The Philippines has denied China’s allegations.
“Such statements coming from the Ministry of Defense are clear evidence of intimidation,” posted Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the South China Sea, on social media platform X on Saturday.
China, which aims to intimidate the Philippine government into withdrawing its support for its own fishermen, is “intensifying its rhetoric by instructing its defense ministry to issue warnings about the use of stronger countermeasures,” he added.
Beijing and Manila have been involved this year in a series of clashes on reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety.
The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea. They are worried that China’s expansive claim will encroach on its exclusive economic zones (EEZ), non-territorial waters that extend 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the shores of a nation’s lands.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, the largest of the U.S. Navy’s forward fleets operating in the Indo-Pacific, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Philippine authorities said last week that Chinese coast guard vessels fired water cannons and side-rammed a Manila fisheries department boat that was on its way to deliver supplies to Filipino fishermen around Scarborough Shoal, an action that drew condemnation from the USA.
China’s Coast Guard said four Philippine ships attempted to enter waters it described as its own around Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing calls Huangyan Island.
Earlier this month, China submitted nautical charts to the United Nations that it said supported its claims over the waters, which a 2016 international tribunal found to be a long-established fishing ground for fishermen of many nationalities.
Following the presentation of the charts, a spokesperson for the Philippine National Maritime Board said China’s claims were baseless and illegal.
The 2016 court ruled that China’s claim had no basis in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and that its blockade around Scarborough Shoal violated international law.
Beijing never recognized the decision.
Sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal was never established.
The Philippines and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have spent years negotiating a code of conduct with Beijing for the strategic waterway, with some nations in the bloc insisting it be based on UNCLOS.
EEZs give the coastal nation jurisdiction over living and non-living resources in the water and on the ocean floor.
With information from Reuters*
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/12/15/china-denuncia-ingerencia-dos-eua-em-acoes-das-filipinas/
