South China Sea: Philippines accuses Beijing of intruding into its waters, stoking tensions

Name: Beijing and Manila trade blame over ‘provocative’ moves with ship collisions near disputed shoal
Uploaded: 2023-11-02T05:57:26.000Z
Duration: 2 min 3 s
Description: Beijing and Manila trade blame over ‘provocative’ moves with ship collisions near disputed shoal

The foreign ministry said the Chinese military’s claim that a Philippine ship ‘illegally entered’ waters near the Scarborough Shoal ‘has no legal basis’

It added Manila has sovereign rights over the outcrop, which it calls Bajo de Masinloc

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Chinese coastguard ships anchored inside the lagoon of the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Reuters

Published: 1:57pm, 2 Nov 2023Updated: 6:28pm, 2 Nov 2023

The Philippine foreign ministry on Thursday accused China of intruding into its waters after an incident involving the two countries’ military vessels at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea earlier this week.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Chinese military’s claim that a Philippine military ship “illegally entered” waters near the Scarborough Shoal “has no legal basis and only serves to raise tensions” in the disputed waterway.

“It is China that is intruding into Philippine waters,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Philippines and China both lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal but sovereignty has never been established and it remains effectively under Beijing’s control since it seized it from Manila in 2012.

02:03

Beijing and Manila trade blame over ‘provocative’ moves with ship collisions near disputed shoal

The DFA said the shoal, which it calls Bajo de Masinloc, is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and the country has sovereign rights and jurisdiction over it.

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