Philippine civilian boat convoy won’t proceed to China-held reef

MANILA – A Philippine boat convoy bearing supplies for Filipino fishers said they were headed back to port on May 16, ditching plans to sail to a China-held reef off the South-east Asian country after one of their boats was “constantly shadowed” by a Chinese vessel.

The Atin Ito (“This is ours”) coalition

convoy set sail on May 15

to distribute fuel and food to fishers and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly entirely despite an international ruling against its assertion.

The voyage comes two weeks after Manila – which has competing claims in the sea – said China Coast Guard vessels

damaged two Philippine government boats

with high-pressure water cannon near Scarborough Shoal.

The group said in a statement: “They will now proceed to the Subic fish port to mark the end of their successful mission.”

A Philippine Coast Guard vessel escorting the convoy was also returning to the same port, located north of Manila, the government agency said.

The convoy learned from fishermen on boats in the area via radio “that they had been chased away by the Chinese”, Mr Emman Hizon, spokesman for the non-government group, told AFP.

But he said the group’s “advance team” distributed fuel and other assistance to Filipino fishermen on May 15 about 46km to 56km from the shoal, declaring “mission accomplished”.

The advance team boat, which returned to a Philippine port on the morning of May 16, was “able to distribute aid despite being constantly shadowed by a Chinese Navy vessel”, Mr Hizon said.

A reconnaissance flight saw 19 Chinese vessels, including a warship and eight coast guard vessels, around the shoal on May 15, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

It said the main contingent of the Filipino convoy, comprising four wooden-hulled fishing boats, was still being tracked by nearby China Coast Guard vessels on May 16 even as it sailed away from the shoal.

The shadowing began at dusk on May 15 as the boats moved closer to the shoal, with the Chinese vessels issuing warnings that the participants heard on their radios.

Asked about the allegations Chinese vessels drove off Filipino fishers, the Chinese Embassy in Manila referred to a Foreign Ministry spokesman’s warning on May 15 against any attempt to infringe on Beijing’s “indisputable sovereignty” over Scarborough Shoal.

The fish-rich reef has been a potential flashpoint since Beijing seized it from Manila in 2012.

It is about 240km west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.

Atin Ito convoy organiser Edicio Dela Torre said on May 15 that the group’s “civilian supply mission is not just about delivering supplies, it’s about reaffirming our presence and rights in our own waters”.

“The world is watching, and the narrative of rightful ownership and peaceful assertion is clearly on our side,” he added.

The head of the coalition, Mr Rafaela David, said in a statement on May 16: “Despite China’s massive blockade, we managed to breach their illegal blockade, reaching Bajo de Masinloc to support our fishers with essential supplies.”

In claiming almost the entire South China Sea, China has brushed off rival claims by the Philippines and other countries, and

ignored an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

To press its claims, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waterway and has

turned several reefs into artificial islands

that it has militarised.

Maritime confrontations between China and the Philippines in the disputed waterway have raised fears of a wider conflict that could involve the US and other allies. AFP