MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino fishing boat captain objected on Tuesday the Chinese coast guard’s aggressiveness in the contested South China Sea, where he asserted that Chinese officers drove him and his males away from a contested shoal and bought them to dump their catch in the sea.
The inperson conflict on Jan. 12, which Joely Saligan and his males reported to Manila’s coast guard after returning from the trip, is screening efforts by China and the Philippines to deescalate stress around a prospective Asian flashpoint.
At a Jan. 17 conference in Shanghai, Beijing and Manila concurred to take actions to ease stress after a year of high-seas fights inbetween their ships in one of the world’s busiest seas. The hostilities have stimulated fears of a significant armed dispute that might include Washington, Manila’s longtime treaty ally.
The anglers, led by Saligan, reported to the Philippine coast guard that Chinese coast guard workers drove them away from the contested Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines and purchased them to dump their catch of fish and seashells.
The conflict occurred on a coral outcrop that sticksout out of the sea like an islet at low tide. Saligan and his males took a rowboat from their mom boat and went to gather seashells and fish for food. However, they stated 5 Chinese coast guard workers, 3 of them armed with steel batons, followed by boat, landed on the islet and purchased the anglers to leave rightaway.
One Chinese officer attempted to seize the cellphone of a Filipino angler, who pressed away the officer’s hand. Both sides were recording the conflict with video cams or cellularphones, Saligan stated.
“This is Philippine area. Go away,” Sa