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Laura Zhou

Associated Press

The reported departure of Chinese vessels from the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea was a sign of further warming bilateral ties between Beijing and Manila, analysts said.
The Philippines and the United States are verifying whether Chinese coastguard ships have indeed left the shoal.
US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters in Beijing yesterday that any withdrawal from the shoal, even if it were a product of bilateral negotiations with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who had recently distanced himself from the US, “would be a positive development” welcomed by Washington.

Philippine defence chief Delfin Lorenzana announced on Friday that Philippine fishermen could access the shoal unimpeded for the first time in four years, but he added the report has to be validated.
Lorenzana said the Philippine Air Force planned aerial surveillance of the shoal, which is located 250km west of the Philippines main island of Luzon, as early as today to assess the situation.
The shoal, which is called Huangyan Island by China, is claimed by both sides.
China’s ‘bullying’ coastguard involved in most South China Sea clashes: research
But Chinese experts said Beijing had deliberately prevented mention of a “Philippines fishing permit” in its joint statement with Manila during Duterte’s state visit to Beijing earlier this month because it wanted to avoid “any possible misinterpretation from the outside world that China had made any concession over the South China Sea issues”.
“Opening fishing access could not be permanent and formal, and it’s too early to say how future bilateral ties will develop, as it’s just the beginning,” said Du Jifeng, a Southeast Asian affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Maritime experts in Beijing said both China and the Philippines were attempting to find a way out of the fishing rights controversy, which has been a key issue ever since Manila first accused Beijing of blocking Filipino fishermen from entering the shoal’s rich fishing grounds in 2013.

“After Duterte’s visit, both sides seemed to have reached a certain mutual understanding to dilute the tension in the region,” Du said.
Li Jie, a Beijing-based military observer, said that while both sides were trying to find a proper solution to the fishing rights disputes, these were also related to sovereignty rights and would take time to resolve.
Instead of simply blocking Filipino fishermen from the shoal, Beijing now wanted to explore whether allowing the fishermen to return could be a way to lower tensions, mainland experts said.
Philippines accuses Beijing of secret island building, releases photos of Chinese boats at disputed Scarborough Shoal
There had been speculation ahead of Duterte’s visit to Beijing whether he would raise the issue with his Chinese counterparts.
Duterte later confirmed that fishing rights in the shoal were included in “private talks” and that he would “leave it to Chinese authorities” to decide how to ­proceed.
The issue was not mentioned in the joint statement issued after his meeting with President Xi Jinping .
China took effective control of the tiny, uninhabited shoal in 2012, after a tense stand-off with Philippine vessels.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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South China Sea

China may have left Scarborough Shoal in ‘sign of warming ties’

President Xi Jinping (right) greets Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to Beijing on October 20. Photo: Simon Song

epa04712854 A handout picture made available by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office on 20 April 2015 shows construction at Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef in the disputed Spratley Islands in the south China Sea by China on 18 February 2015. Just before the opening of the Balikatan 2015 joint Philippines and US military exercises, Philippine military chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang showed the latest aerial photos of the expansive reclamation and building being done by China in at least seven disputed territories. The Philippines has alleged that China causes economic losses of at least 100 million dollars annually due to its reclamation activities, which have destroyed an estimated 120 hectares of coral reef systems in the Spratlys islands group. EPA/ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2016 file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, poses with a fist bump with Defense Chief Delfin Lorenzana, left, during his "Talk with the Airmen" on the anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing, at the Philippine Air Force headquarters in suburban Pasay city, southeast of Manila, Philippines. The Philippine defense chief said Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, that he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country's new president. Defense Secretary Lorenzana also said that 107 U.S. troops involved in operating surveillance drones against Muslim militants would be asked to leave the southern part of the country once the Philippines acquires those intelligence-gathering capabilities in the near future. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

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US Deputy Secretary of State calls move, if true, a ‘positive development’
