The Philippines has accused China of “swarming” a reef off its coast after more than 135 military boats were spotted in the South China Sea.
The coast guard said the boats were “dispersed and scattered” in the vicinity of Whitsun Reef, which it says is within its exclusive economic zone.
They said the growing presence of these military boats was “alarming”.
The South China Sea is at the centre of a territorial dispute between China, the Philippines and other countries.
Whitsun Reef - which the Philippines calls Julian Felipe Reef - is around 320km (200 miles) west of Palawan Island, more than 1,000km from the nearest major Chinese landmass of Hainan island.
aw, c’mon! we’re just patrolling! it just so happens you saw 135 patrol ships there at the same time~
– China patrol (as to what I think)
This is the result of China’s “nine dash line.” If the countries impacted, Vietnam, Philippines, Mtaylasia, Singapore, Indonesia, etc., started a discussion at the UN, it would immediately implicate Taiwan, and nobody wants to touch that. So, local scuffles will continue, as China flexes her muscle.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The coast guard said the boats were “dispersed and scattered” in the vicinity of Whitsun Reef, which it says is within its exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines’ Coast Guard said the number of Chinese maritime militia vessels in the area had increased from the 111 they recorded in November.
Friction between the two countries over competing sovereignty claims has increased since Ferdinand Marcos Jr became president last year.
Last week, the Philippines carried out two separate joint air and sea patrols with the US, and with Australia a few days earlier.
The contested waters have also become a naval flashpoint for China-US relations, and in October, US President Joe Biden warned that the US will defend the Philippines in case of any attack.
President Biden’s comments were made days after two collisions between Filipino and Chinese vessels in the waters.
The original article contains 279 words, the summary contains 140 words. Saved 50%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
If they didn’t want military vehicles there, they shouldn’t have carried out military drills with foreign militaries there. The U.S. gets to fly planes and put boats in the South China Sea, but China, who actually lives in the region, can’t? Bullshit Eurocentric double standards. Julian Felipe is far outside the accepted EEZ of the Philippines.
The international military drills happen with permission.
China and poohbear are just being bullies. They have no right to any of the South China sea.
Permission from who? The Philippines? Does the U.S. recognize the Philippine claim to the reef above the Vietnamese and Chinese claims? I know the article uses weasel words like “about 200mi” from the Philippines, but Whitesun Reef is almost 300mi from the waters of the Philippines, you can look on a map for yourself. So, if 200mi is the internationally recognized limit from which one can hold an EEZ, which it is, this chain should belong to none of the countries in question, and the waters should be open to all of them without restriction.
Whitesun Reef is almost 300mi from the waters of the Philippines, you can look on a map for yourself
You should check your map more carefully. The nearest major landmass is Palawan, which the article correctly states is 320 km away. Palawan has 900,000 inhabitants and is in the Philippines. EEZs are 200 nautical miles, which is approximately 370 km, so unless the Spratly Islands are used to define EEZs then this reef is comfortably within the Filipino one.
Whether Vietnam or the Philippines has a more solid legal claim is, frankly, up to them to figure out. The country who has zero legal claim , however, is China. So they can fuck right off.
Smartest 196 poster
