South China Sea: Filipino fisherman tells Chinese ship ‘go away’ from disputed shoal, ‘this is not your territory’

A Filipino fisherman protested the Chinese coastguard’s aggression in the South China Sea, where he said Chinese officers drove him away from a disputed shoal
In past disputes over the Scarborough Shoal, Beijing has asserted China’s sovereignty and the right to defend the rich fishing atoll from encroachments

The Philippines

Associated Press

Published: 10:00pm, 23 Jan 2024

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A Filipino fishing boat captain protested on Tuesday the Chinese coastguard’s aggression in the disputed South China Sea, where he said Chinese officers drove him and his men away from a disputed shoal and ordered them to dump their catch back to sea.

The face-to-face confrontation on January 12, which Filipino fisherman Joely Saligan and his men reported belatedly to Manila’s coastguard after returning from the sea voyage, is testing efforts by China and Philippines to de-escalate tensions in a potential Asian flashpoint.

At a January 17 meeting in Shanghai, Beijing and Manila agreed to take steps to ease tensions after a year of high-seas territorial face-offs between their ships in the sea passage, one of the world’s busiest.

The hostilities have sparked fears of a major armed conflict that could involve Washington, Manila’s long-time treaty ally.

A Chinese coastguard vessel manoeuvres beside the Philippine coastguard ship BRP Cabra as they approach Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, during a resupply mission on the disputed South China Sea. Photo: AP

The fishermen, led by Saligan, reported to the Philippine coastguard that Chinese coastguard personnel drove them away from the disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines on January 12 and ordered them to dump their catch of fish and seashells back to the sea.

The confrontation happened on a coral outcrop, which juts out of the high seas like an islet at low tide. Saligan and his men took a dinghy from their mother boat and went to collect seashells and fish for food during their sea voyage.

However, five Chinese coastguard personnel, three of them armed with steel batons, followed by boat, alighted on the islet and ordered the fishermen to leave.

One Chinese officer tried to confiscate the cellphone of a Filipino fisherman, who resisted by pushing away the officer’s hand. Both sides were documenting the confrontation, either with video cameras or cellphones, Saligan said.

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“This is Philippine territory. Go away,” Saligan said he told the Chinese coastguard personnel, who he said insisted that they leave the shoal immediately. The Chinese did not speak and used hand gestures, he said.

“They looked angry. They wanted us to return our catch to the sea,” Saligan told a small group of journalists, including from Associated Press, in Manila.

“That’s inhuman because that was food which people should not be deprived of.”

Saligan said he decided to dump some of their seashells and fish back in the sea and returned by boat to his mother boat, the F/V Vhrayle, to prevent the dispute from escalating.

Chinese officials did not immediately comment on Saligan’s statements. In past disputes over the Scarborough Shoal, however, Beijing has asserted China’s sovereignty and the right to defend the rich fishing atoll from encroachments.

Filipino fishermen Joely Saligan points to a video, his crew took showing Chinese coastguard beside their boat. Photo: AP

Philippine coastguard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said the written statements and video submitted by Saligan and his men have been validated as accurate by the coastguard.

A report would be submitted to a multi-agency government group dealing with the long-simmering territorial disputes for possible actions, including the filing of a new diplomatic protest against China.

“Those actions were really illegal and the harassment that they did to our Filipino fishermen were unacceptable,” Tarriela said in a news briefing.

The Philippine coastguard remained confident, however, that the agreement by China and the Philippines to lower tensions would “have a positive impact” and foster a peaceful resolution of the long-seething disputes, Tarriela said.

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Chinese and Philippine coastguard ships engaged in a series of alarmingly tense hostilities last year mostly off the Second Thomas Shoal, another hotly contested area in the South China Sea.

The Philippine government repeatedly protested the Chinese coastguard’s use of water cannon, a military-grade laser and dangerous blocking manoeuvres that had caused minor collisions off the Philippine-occupied shoal.

The United States has warned that it is obliged to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

China has repeatedly warned of unspecified circumstances if the US and its allies continue to meddle in the disputes.