Philippine defense chief tells Chinese ships to leave the reef

The Philippine chief of defense on Sunday called for more than 200 Chinese ships, which he said were claimed by Manila, a South China Sea reef abandoned by the militia, their presence “a provocative action of the militarization of the region”.

“We call on China to stop this Chinese invasion to immediately withdraw these maritime rights and these boats encroaching into our sovereign territory,” Daphin Lorenzana said in a statement.

A government watchdog overseeing the disputed area said about 220 Chinese ships were spotted in the swamp at the Whitsun Reef, which Beijing also claims. On 7 March it released photographs of ships in one of the hottest areas of the strategic waterway.

The reef, called Manila Julian Felipe, is a boomerang-shaped and shallow coral area, about 175 nautical miles (324 kilometers) west of the town of Batraja in the western Philippine province of Palan. It is well within the country’s special economic zone, on which the Philippines “enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources,” the government said.

The large number of Chinese boats is “of concern due to the possible excessive destruction and destruction of the marine environment, as well as the risk to the safety of navigation,” it said, although it noted that vessels were not fishing when sighted Were.

The Chinese fishing fleet has long been suspected of being used as a maritime militia to help Beijing assert regional claims, although China has rejected those claims.

Philippine military chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobjana said the military’s “top priority remains in the region through increased maritime patrols for the protection of our civilians, especially our fishermen.”

Asked if the Philippines would file a protest, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Loxin Jr. tweeted, “Only if the generals told me.”

Officials at the Chinese embassy did not immediately issue a comment. China, the Philippines and four other governments have been locked in a tense regional deadlock over resource-rich and busy waterways for decades.

Critics have repeatedly called on President Rodrigo Duterte, who has nurtured friendly relations with Beijing since he took office in 2016, not to stand up to China’s aggressive behavior and promptly compel Chinese compliance with an international arbitration ruling Decided not to demand that invalidate Beijing’s historical claims. The whole sea. China has refused to recognize the 2016 decision, which it has called “a sham” and it continues to defer.

“When Xi says ‘I’ll kill the fish,’ who can stop him?” Mr. Duterte said that when he mentioned Chinese President Xi Jinping two years ago, he defended the non-confrontational approach.

“If I send my fishermen to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you that not a single one of them will survive.” He was banished earlier.

Mr Duterte has called for infrastructure funding, trade and investment from China, which has donated and pledged to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as the Philippines faces a dangerous spike in coronovirus infection.

Renato Reyes of Bayan, a leftist political coalition, said, “We cannot stop our special economic zone even for China’s vaccines.” “We must resist the latest developments.”