The waters off the western Philippine island of Palawan.
The conflict between the Philippines and the Chinese Communist Party in the disputed waters of the South China Sea escalated again when a Philippine television reporter was expelled by a Chinese maritime police vessel on his way to Renai Reef in the South China Sea on April 8. This was the first recorded incident of a military vessel expelling a civilian vessel in the area.
Bloomberg quoted local broadcaster ABS-CBN as reporting that a Chinese maritime police ship and two missile-laden naval vessels chased away the Filipino journalists as their boat traveled near the western island province of Palawan. The U.S. and the Philippines have expressed new concerns and are investigating the incident.
The Central News Agency (CNA) reported that at the time, ABS-CBN News reporter Chiara Zambrano and a team of filmmakers went to the Free Islands (KIG), located in the Philippines’ exclusive economic waters, where they wanted to report on how local fishermen responded when a large number of Chinese vessels appeared in the area.
Zambrano said their boat arrived about four nautical miles from Second Thomas Shoal when they were approached by a white Chinese maritime police vessel, which asked over the radio why they were in the area, but the Philippine captain did not respond, but decided to turn back.
The maritime police vessel then began to follow the journalists’ boat for an hour, and Zambrano said the two ships “were so close that they could see each other’s port number 5101 with the naked eye, sometimes sailing on either side of the Philippine ship. The ship then turned around, but later two Chinese Communist Navy Type 22 missile boats, each with two missiles, appeared.
On Friday, Philippine Defense Department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said in a statement, “We are concerned about the maritime safety of anyone – unarmed civilians.” He added that the country’s Defense Department has instructed the armed forces to investigate the matter and will then “coordinate any appropriate response” based on the findings.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken also spoke with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin to discuss incidents such as the Chinese Communist Party’s buildup along Bull Yoke Reef, and they reiterated their call for the Communist Party to comply with the 2016 arbitration ruling under the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Philippines recently said that as many as two hundred and twenty Chinese maritime militia boats continue to gather around Whitsun Reef and spread to other islands and reefs, but the Communist Party argues that they are “fishermen boats” sheltering from the weather. In response, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said angrily, “I’m not a fool, the weather has been good so far, so they have no other reason to stay there.” And asked the Chinese communist ships to “get out now”!
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