China Presses Its Maritime Luck, Blocks Access To Fishing Lanes
from Zero Hedge:
“No fishing for you!”
We suppose it was only a matter of time, but Beijing has now escalated the South China Sea dispute.
The waters around the Spratlys have become the subject of international diplomacy after China decided to dredge up 3,000 acres of new sovereign territory in what amounts to the most epic sand castle building exercise in maritime history.
The world first caught on to what China was up to (and no, that’s not derogatory because they were literally “up to something”), early last year when satellite images depicted rapid construction on Fiery Cross Reef. The situation escalated quickly and before you knew it, the PLA was warning a Poseidon spy plane with a CNN crew aboard to “go now” in a move that pretty clearly indicated China intended to establish a no-fly zone over its new islands.
Finally, in late October, the Obama administration decided to conduct a freedom of
navigation “exercise” near China’s new islands, an effort The Pentagon says was designed to establish security in a corridor through which $5 trillion in global trade flows.
Earlier this month, China send warplanes to an airstrip on one of its islands. That move came on the heels of the deployment of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles to Woody island.
On Wednesday, Philippine officials say Chinese ships are blocking access to fishing lanes at the Jackson Atoll where in 2011, PLA warships fired "warning shots" at fisherman.
"We know there are Chinese ships moving around the Spratly area," spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla told Reuters. "There are also ships around Second Thomas Shoal, so we want to make sure if the presence is permanent."
Trust us General, the "presence" is indeed permanent.
"Second Thomas Shoal is where the Philippine navy has been occupying and reinforcing a rusting ship that it ran aground in 1999 to bolster its claims to the disputed reef," Reuters goes on to note. "In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China's Ministry of Transport had sent vessels to tow the grounded ship and they had since left the surrounding waters."
The PLA says it needed to "urge fishing vessels to leave" in order to "guarantee safety of navigation and of working conditions."
The worry here, apparently, is that China is trying to construct another island.
Apparently, a surveillance plane spotted "four or five" ships near the atoll last week and it wasn't immediately clear what they were doing.
"I’m alarmed because we frequently pass by that atoll on our way to Pag-asa,” the mayor of the Kalayaan region in the Spratly Islands said. “What will happen now if we sail close with all those Chinese ships?” Well, you may well get shot at and that, in turn has the potential to spark a global conflict.
"There are no indications China will build structures or develop it into an island," a source said, but an unidentifired fisherman who spoke to The Philippines Star said "gray and white Chinese ships, around four of them inside the lagoon, prevented us from entering our traditional fishing ground."
Now obviously, China has no desire or interest in keeping Filipinos from fishing. In other words, it seems highly likely that Beijing has designs on building another island and the PLA isn't interested in explaining that to any fishermen.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if China starts firing on Filipino fishermen again, Washington will simply put warships in the fishing lanes. We're all for the emergence of a multipolar world, a reshaping of the entrenched geopolitical order, and the decline of US hegemony but it certainly seems as though China is angling for a maritime escalation. We're not saying they don't have a right to assert their territorial claims, but they are pushing their luck.
Whether or not the Obama administration or Shinzo Abe will call their bluff is an open question.
The Chinese have taken over another traditional Filipino fishing ground near Palawan where they have stationed up to five ships to keep local fishermen at bay, sources said.
Now effectively under Chinese control is Quirino or Jackson Atoll, which has been a rich source of catch for a long time for fishermen from Palawan, Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and even Manila.
Gray and white Chinese vessels have not left the atoll, which Filipino fishermen also call Jackson Five, because of the existence of five lagoons in the area.
The Chinese are claiming almost the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea. Manila is contesting Beijing’s claim before an international arbitral court based in The Hague.
Filipino fishermen lamented the Chinese vessels would not allow them to come near or linger in the Quirino Atoll.
The area is between the Philippine-occupied Lawak Island and the Chinese-occupied Panganiban (Mischief) Reef.
Fishermen from Mindoro Occidental who asked not to be named said Chinese boats chased them away when they tried to enter the area last week.
“These gray and white Chinese ships, around four of them inside the lagoon, prevented us from entering our traditional fishing ground,” one of the fishermen said.
Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon Jr. said the Chinese ships have been staying in Quirino Atoll for more than a month now. “They have many ships there,” he said, without elaborating.
Philippine air patrol has confirmed the presence of at least four Chinese coast guard ships in the Jackson lagoons.
A Palawan-based fishing operator said the Chinese began deploying ships to Quirino Atoll after a Manila-based fishing carrier boat ran aground in the area due to bad weather.
The fishing operator said his boats have since been avoiding the area due to the menacing presence of presumably armed Chinese ships. “We can’t enter the area anymore,” he bewailed.
Early last month, Chinese gray and white ships – presumably naval and maritime surveillance vessels – harassed Philippine Navy logistic ship BRP Laguna near Hasa-Hasa (Half Moon) Shoal, another Filipino fishing ground in the West Philippine Sea just 60 nautical miles from the southern tip of Palawan.
In 2012, the Chinese took control of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal after a brief standoff with a Philippine Navy vessel whose crew had tried to arrest Chinese poachers.
Outnumbered and outgunned by the Chinese, the Filipinos were forced to release the poachers along with their illegal cargo of live baby sharks, giant clams and endangered corals. The Chinese have never left the shoal since then.
SOURCE: Zero Hedge
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