On Tuesday, the Philippines vowed to protect its territory “at all cost,” a day after China’s military said it blocked a Philippine ship patrolling near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement, that a Philippine Navy ship conducted routine patrol operations near Scarborough Shoal “without any untoward incident.”
He said the vessel “did not illegally enter any space under Chinese sovereignty because the shoal is part of the Southeast Asian nation’s territory.”
“Following the strong guidance of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., we will protect our territory and sovereign rights at all cost,” Ano said.
China’s military said on Monday it warned and blocked a Philip-pine vessel that entered the waters near Huangyan Island, which is what it calls Scarborough Shoal, without permission. The Philippines’ actions violated China’s sovereignty, according to Tian Jun-li, spokesperson for Beijing’s Southern Theater Command, urging Manila to prevent infringement and provocations to avoid an escalation of the situation.
The Philippines’ military and coast guard “will not be deterred by the aggressive and illegal activities of Chinese vessels within its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, Ano said.
He said, “China is again overhyping this incident and creating unnecessary tensions between our two nations.”
Scarborough Shoal is a chain of reefs and rocks that both China and the Philippines claim as their own. It recently became the center of the long-running maritime feud between the two countries after Manila said last month said it cut a floating barrier installed by Beijing that stopped entry of Filipino fishermen.
This month, tensions in the disputed sea escalated after Philippine and Chinese vessels collided on two separate occasions when the Philippine ships were on a mission to deliver supplies to a military outpost on Second Thomas Shoal.
