The clash last Monday between Philippine surveillance boats and Chinese coast guard vessels in a disputed sovereign zone in the south china sea It was more serious than what was initially revealed.
What was known at first was that the Chinese coast guard blocked the ships of the philippine coast guard and that they fired with water cannons.
Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.backed by the United States in its disputes with China over maritime sovereignty, summoned the Chinese ambassador in Manila to deliver a protest note.
Likewise, it reserved the right to a possible response to the incidentalthough he advocated not interrupting communications with China.
At the center of the incident is the dispute over the Spratly Archipelagolocated within the exclusive economic zone, but claimed by China as part of its territory.
It is not the first incident of this nature in the area. Another particularly serious clash occurred last February, when a Chinese ship fired a military blinding laser against the crew of a Philippine coast guard.
The incident last Monday has added fuel to the fire. the rising tensions with the Philippines They occur in the midst of a process of strong Chinese rearmament, which seeks to obtain hegemony in the waters of the South China Sea through its naval supremacy.
According to an analysis of Guardian, the military alliance with Russia has made China become bolder in its provocations. Proof of this is the sending of a Joint Russian-Chinese fleet to the Bering Sea that crossed the waters of the exclusive economic zone of the United States in Alaska.
Claims of sovereignty over the Spratlys were rejected by the International Court of The Hague in 2016.
Despite this, China continues to claim about 90% of the area of the south china sea. To do this, it has increased its naval presence in the area.
On the contrary, beijing accused Philippines to take “provocative actions in the South China Sea” and warned that the Chinese navy “is prepared to protect its sovereignty.”
In the statement of the Chinese Defense Ministry, collected by efethe Philippines is accused of “permanently occupying” the reefs that make up the Spratly Archipelagowhich the Chinese government calls Nansha and which claims its sovereignty.
China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, Chinese Defense Minister warned wu qian.
For China, the presence of a small Philippine detachment on a merchant ship, the Sierra Madre, deliberately grounded in 1999 on the reef of the Ayungin Atoll, it is a “violation of Chinese sovereignty.”
The ship has become the main element of dispute, because, according to Beijing, with its presence on the ship, a jumble of rusty iron, Philippines consecrates his occupation of the atoll.
The incident last Monday between the Chinese coast guard and the Philippine ship was precisely intended to prevent the Philippines from delivering supplies to the detachment located on the ship.
Meanwhile, tensions between China and the Philippines are rising, and the risk of a new conflict between regional powers is growing.
