South China Sea: Philippines files diplomatic protest over 200 Chinese vessels at disputed reef

A government agency said about 220 Chinese boats were seen moored at Whitsun Reef (Julian Felipe) in Manila’s exclusive economic zone on March 7

‘We call on the Chinese to stop this incursion and immediately recall these boats violating our maritime rights’, said Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

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Some of the 220 Chinese vessels are seen moored at Whitsun Reef in this photo provided on Sunday. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea via AP

Published: 11:27am, 21 Mar 2021Updated: 10:53pm, 21 Mar 2021

The Philippine defence chief on Sunday demanded more than 200 Chinese vessels he said were manned by militias leave a South China Sea reef claimed by Manila, saying their presence was a “provocative action of militarising the area”.

“We call on the Chinese to stop this incursion and immediately recall these boats violating our maritime rights and encroaching into our sovereign territory,” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement, adding without elaborating that the Philippines would uphold its sovereign rights.

A government watchdog overseeing the disputed region said about 220 Chinese vessels were seen moored at Whitsun Reef, which Beijing also claims, on March 7. It released pictures of the vessels side by side in one of the most hotly contested areas of the strategic waterway.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin tweeted late on Sunday that the Philippines had filed a diplomatic protest over the Chinese presence.

The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is a boomerang-shaped and shallow coral region about 175 nautical miles (324 kilometres) west of Bataraza town in the western Philippine province of Palawan. It is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone, over which the Philippines “enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources”, the government watchdog said.

The large numbers of Chinese boats are “a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safety of navigation”, it said, although it added that the vessels were not fishing when sighted.