MANILA: The Philippines announced on Sunday ( 12 January ) that it had deployed a coast guard ship to confront Chinese police boats ‘ attempts to “alter the existing status quo” in the contested South China Sea.
Beijing asserts the majority of the proper waterway despite a 2016 worldwide tribunal decision that was opposed, and Philippine and Chinese vessels frequently engage in hostilities or anxious standoffs.
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam even have promises to the lakes.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles ( 111km ) west off the main Philippine island of Luzon.
” Their objective is to normalise for operations, and if these steps go unnoticed and unquestioned, it will allow them to change the existing position quo”, he said in a speech.
Eventually, he later claimed that Manila had sent a coast guard ship to the place to fight off the “unlawful” Foreign patrols.
He claimed that the implementation was meant to make sure that Chinese patrols “are not normalized, and that this bullying behavior does not thrive.”
Between December 30 and January 11, according to Tarriela, the Taiwanese coast guard reportedly deployed three vessels into Spanish waters from its Guangdong and Hainan bases.
The South China Sea conflicts have sparked problem they could bring the United States, Manila’s long-time safety ally, into military conflict with China.