South China Sea: Philippine coast guards claim challenging Chinese ship entering territorial waters

Tensions remain high surrounding the South China Sea with the surrounding countries including the US closely monitoring signs of aggression from Chinese forces. This week, the Philippine Coast Guards have claimed that they confronted a Chinese vessel as it attempted to transit through the country’s territorial waters.

Filipino coast guards said Monday that they confronted a Chinese ship that entered the country’s territorial waters before the vessel eventually left. The BRP Cabra Patrol boat reported seeing a war vessel from China that had Chinese markings last July 13. The Philippine Coast Guard issued radio warnings to the boat before sailing towards the vessel to identify the nature of its activity in Philippine waters.

The Chinese vessel did not move at first and only moved after the BRP Cabra issued a long-range acoustic device to express their concerns. The Chinese Navy ultimately moved away from the Maria Louise Bank. The Philippine Coast Guard stated that the Chinese vessel only moved away after the BRP Cabra was 500 yards away.

This marks the latest encounter between China and the Philippines in the midst of tensions rising in the West Philippine Sea. The incident also came after the day marking the fifth anniversary of the international tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines that China had no legal or historic basis in claiming sovereignty over almost the entire body of water. Beijing has opted to ignore the ruling.

During the anniversary, the US also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the Philippines. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement reiterating Washington’s rejection of China’s sovereignty claims on the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea. Mr. Blinken also warned China that any attack made on Philippine forces will lead to a military response from the US under the mutual defense treaty.

China continues to seek control over the contested waters, and possibly even going so far as to spread enormous amounts of its human waste in the waters, according to WION reporter Palki Sharma. Previously, Sharma accused Beijing of attempting to dump large amounts of human waste all over the South China Sea. Sharma added that Chinese vessels are dumping waste all throughout the waters and causing harm to the environment.

Sharma added that China does not own the areas it is dumping waste in, noting the tensions surrounding the waters.

“The achievements of China’s PR machine it proudly lists,” said Sharma. “But here is something they will never tell you. China doesn’t have enough space to flush its waste. It’s dumping catastrophic levels of human waste in the South China Sea.”