More than 50 Chinese vessels were occupying waters in the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as of Monday afternoon, according to the Southeast Asian country’s armed forces.
These include seven China Coast Guard ships, a number of small fishing boats, and 47 maritime ships belonging to China’s paramilitary maritime militia, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla said on Tuesday.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines an EEZ as the 200-nautical-mile (230 mile) zone within which a coastal state has the sole rights natural resources. China’s territorial claims over most of the South China Sea conflict with those of five neighbors, including the Philippines.
Some of the Chinese vessels Padilla mentioned were found to be operating at South China Sea hotspots at the heart of Manila’s ongoing territorial dispute with China.
Five coast ships, 10 small Chinese boats, and 18 maritime militia ships were counted at Scarborough Shoal, which China effectively wrested from Philippine control in 2012.
Meanwhile, six small boats and a coast guard ship were seen at Second Thomas Shoal, the site of the latest flare up in the neighbors’ dispute. On March 5, a force of Chinese vessels aggressively sought to block a Philippine resupply and troop rotation mission to the shoal, where Manila stations a contingent of marines.
The ensuing collisions and China’s use of water cannons, which splintered the windshield of a Philippine supply boat and injured four crew members, drew statements of condemnation and calls for adherence to maritime law from the U.S. and several other countries as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Beijing, which asserts sovereignty over most of that heavily trafficked sea, accused the convoy of trespassing in its territorial waters.
China’s maritime militia, nicknamed “little blue men” for the color of their hulls, are a paramilitary confederation of large, steel hulled fishing ships Beijing deploys in disputed waters.
Ted Aljibe
Though the Chinese government maintains they are merely patriotic fishermen, the ships are a favorite and well-documented component of China’s “gray-zone” strategy to back its claims with force while stopping short of armed conflict.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately return a written request for comment.
Commodore Vincent Trinidad, a spokesperson for the Philippine Navy, told Newsweek last month that the navy does not consider the presence of 50 Chinese vessels cause for alarm. He pointed to recent instances last year of upwards of 100 and even 200 maritime militia vessels flooding mooring at South China Sea features for weeks at a time.
A Hague-based international court in 2016 largely dismissed China’s claims, but Beijing maintains the decision was illegal, citing unspecified historical rights.
The Philippines has said it will continue to hold joint military exercises with Mutual Defense Treaty ally the U.S. and other partners with the aim of boosting the interoperability of their forces and keeping the Pacific free and open.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.