Latest news with #BureauofFisheriesandAquaticResources
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Philippines accuses China of aggressive tactics in South China Sea
An aerial photo from March 2024 showing Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near Thitu Island, in the Spratly archipelago. PHOTO: AFP MANILA – The Philippines' fisheries bureau said the lives of a civilian crew were put at risk when the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannon and sideswiped one of its vessels while it conducted marine research around a disputed South China Sea reef. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources condemned what it said was 'aggressive interference' of the Chinese Coast Guard against the Datu Sanday and a second ship in the May 21 incident, saying its vessels had not previously been subjected to water cannon in the area. The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the May 22 statement by the bureau. Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features that the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have a presence. I n April, China said its coast guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of operations to exercise its sovereignty. The Philippines has denied that Beijing has seized control of the disputed reef. China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including areas claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal found that Beijing's sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision that China rejects. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
China, Philippines Trade Blame Over South China Sea Confrontation
Manila: China and the Philippines traded accusations on Thursday following a confrontation between two of their vessels in contested waters of the South China Sea, the latest incident in a long-running maritime standoff in the strategic waterway. The Philippines' fisheries bureau said the lives of a civilian crew were put at risk when the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons and sideswiped a vessel as it conducted marine research around a disputed South China Sea reef. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources condemned what it said was the "aggressive interference" of the Chinese Coast Guard against the Datu Sanday and a second ship in Wednesday's incident, saying its vessels had not previously been subjected to water cannons in the area. The Chinese Coast Guard said two Philippine vessels had illegally entered waters near Subi Reef and Sandy Cay and organised personnel to land on Sandy Cay. The Coast Guard responded with what it described as professional and lawful control measures and went ashore to verify and handle the situation, it said in a statement. A collision occurred after one of the Philippine vessels ignored multiple warnings and approached a Chinese vessel dangerously, the Coast Guard said, placing full responsibility for the incident on the Philippine side. The Chinese statement did not mention any use of water cannons. The US ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson described China's actions as aggressive and, in a post on X, said they "recklessly endangered lives and threaten regional stability." Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have a presence. Last month, China said its Coast Guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of operations to exercise its sovereignty. The Philippines has denied Beijing has seized control of the disputed reef. China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including areas claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal found Beijing's sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.
New Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Philippines says China Coast Guard fired water cannon, 'sideswiped' government vessel
MANILA: The Philippines fisheries bureau accused the China Coast Guard on Thursday of firing water cannon and sideswiping a Filipino government vessel while it collected sand for a research project. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Wednesday's encounter happened near a group of small sandbanks in the Spratly Islands where two Filipino ships were collecting sand samples "as part of a marine scientific research initiative", the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said in a statement. "At approximately 0913H, CCG vessel 21559 water cannoned and sideswiped the BRP Datu Sanday (MMOV 3002) twice ... putting at risk lives of its civilian personnel." It was the first time water cannon were used against Philippine vessels near the disputed Sandy Cay reef, the bureau added. The "aggressive interference, dangerous manuevers, and illegal acts" damaged the Philippine ship's port bow and smokestack, according to the bureau's statement. The Philippines scientific team was still able "to complete its operations in Pag-Asa Cays 1, 2 and 3", the statement said, using the Philippine term for the Sandy Cays. China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she was not aware of the incident. "What I can tell you is that the Chinese Coast Guard always enforces the law in accordance with laws and regulations," she said. Last month, the Philippines slammed as "irresponsible" a Chinese state media report claiming that Sandy Cay 2 was put under China's control. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that the country's coast guard had "implemented maritime control" over Tiexian Reef in mid-April.
The Star
27-04-2025
- General
- The Star
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost: report
This handout photo taken on March 21, 2024 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR) shows an aerial view of Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Chinese coast guard seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, according to Beijing's state media, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. The Chinese coast guard "implemented maritime control" over the Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, during the middle of April 2025, state broadcaster CCTV reported on April 26, 2025. - Philippine Coast Guard/AFP BEIJING: The Chinese coast guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, according to Beijing's state media, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other regional countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is currently taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the United States that Beijing has slammed as destabilising. The Chinese coast guard "implemented maritime control" over the Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, during the middle of April, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday (April 26). The tiny sandbank, part of the Spratly Islands, lies near Thitu Island, also called Pag-asa and the site of a Philippine military facility. CCTV said the coast guard landed on Sandy Cay to "exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction" over the reef, carry out an "inspection" and "collect video evidence regarding the illegal activities of the Philippine side". The broadcaster published a photograph of five black-clad people standing on the uninhabited reef as a dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water. Another shot showed four coast guard officials posing with a national flag on the reef's white surface, in what CCTV described as a "vow of sovereignty". The group also "cleaned up leftover plastic bottles, wooden sticks and other debris and garbage on the reef", the broadcaster said. The Financial Times reported an unnamed Philippine maritime official as saying that the Chinese coast guard had left after unfurling the flag. There do not appear to be any signs that China has permanently occupied the reef or has built a structure on it. In recent months, Beijing and Manila have blamed each other for causing what they describe as the ecological degradation of several disputed landforms in the South China Sea. China's state news agency Xinhua on Friday cited a report from the natural resources ministry that it said "debunked" Manila's allegations that Beijing's land reclamation projects had harmed the local environment. Philippine forces are present on Thitu Island and Manila inaugurated a coast guard monitoring base there in 2023 in an effort to counter what it describes as Chinese aggression. On Monday, the Philippine and US militaries launched three weeks of annual joint exercises called "Balikatan", or "shoulder to shoulder", which will include an integrated air and missile defence simulation for the first time. US Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Glynn said at the opening ceremony in Manila that the two side would "demonstrate not just our will to uphold our mutual defence treaty in existence since 1951 but our matchless capability to do so". "Nothing builds bonds more quickly than shared adversity," he said, without specifying a common threat. Beijing said the manoeuvres "undermine regional strategic stability" and accused Manila of "collusion with countries outside the region". - AFP
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
U.S. condemns 'dangerous' Chinese maneuvers after close encounter with Philippine plane
HONG KONG — The United States condemned Wednesday what it called 'dangerous maneuvers' by China after a Chinese navy helicopter flew within 10 feet of a Philippine patrol plane in a disputed area of the South China Sea. The incident took place Tuesday morning local time as a plane belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources was flying what Philippine officials said was a routine low-altitude patrol over the Scarborough Shoal, an atoll that is mostly underwater but is rich in fish stocks. Video shared by the Philippine coast guard showed the Chinese People's Liberation Army navy helicopter hovering above and to the left of the Philippine plane before moving away again in an effort to push the plane out of what Beijing says is its airspace. 'We condemn the dangerous maneuvers by a PLA Navy helicopter that endangered pilots and passengers on a Philippine air mission,' U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay L. Carson said in a post on the social media platform X. 'We call on China to refrain from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.' The Philippines, the oldest U.S. treaty ally in Asia, has been strengthening its security ties with the U.S., Japan, Australia and others as it increasingly clashes with China in the South China Sea, a strategically important shipping route that Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. There are a number of territorial disputes in the South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. But tensions between China and the Philippines have been especially high in the last two years as they spar over the Scarborough Shoal as well as the Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines intentionally grounded a navy ship in 1999 to establish a military outpost. In a call with his Philippine counterpart last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored the 'ironclad' U.S. commitment to the Philippines, which it is obligated to defend, and said he shared the Philippines' concern about China's 'dangerous and destabilizing actions' in the South China Sea. The Philippine plane was carrying personnel from the Philippine coast guard, as well as multiple journalists, officials said. 'You are flying too close, you are very dangerous and it endangers the lives of our crew and passengers,' the video shows the pilot of the Philippine plane telling the Chinese navy helicopter by radio. The Philippine government said it would issue a formal diplomatic protest over the incident. 'This blatantly hazardous action endangered the safety of the pilots and passengers onboard,' the Philippines' Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns said in a statement Tuesday. 'It demonstrated a lack of regard for internationally accepted norms on good airmanship and flight safety.' 'China's illegal, aggressive and coercive behavior will not deter the Philippines from continuing the conduct of its routine maritime operations in accordance with its sovereignty over the shoal,' the statement continued. The Chinese military disputed the Philippines' account, saying the plane had illegally entered Chinese airspace and that the Philippines had 'distorted the facts and spread false narratives.' 'The Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to track, monitor and warn the aircraft to leave based on laws and regulations,' Col. Tian Junli, spokesperson for the command, said in a statement. 'The Philippine action severely violated China's sovereignty and grossly infringed upon international law.' The Philippines has accused China of escalating its tactics against its coast guard and other personnel, including the use of water cannons and a military-grade laser, while China also sees the Philippines' behavior in the area as increasingly provocative. In a dispute brought by the Philippines, an international tribunal in The Hague said in 2016 that Beijing's South China Sea claims were invalid, a ruling that China has never accepted. The Philippines has also invited local and foreign media to join its air and sea patrols, prompting China to accuse it of 'hyping up' confrontations to gain support from the U.S. and others. The latest incident between China and the Philippines came a week after Australia accused China of 'unsafe and unprofessional' actions toward an Australian air force plane conducting what it said was a routine patrol in international airspace above the South China Sea. The Australian Defense Ministry said a Chinese PLA fighter jet had released flares within 100 feet of the aircraft. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday that the Australian military plane had deliberately intruded into Chinese airspace and that China had taken 'legitimate, lawful, professional and restrained measures' to expel it. This article was originally published on
