Far out in the South China Sea, where dark blue meets bright turquoise, a kilometers-long row of fishing boats anchor near the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), backed by a small armada of Chinese Coast Guard vessels projecting China’s power in Asia’s most disputed waters.
China still calls the shots at the prime fishing spot and has boosted its fleet there, nine months after an international panel ruled its blockade of the lagoon was illegal.
Beijing rejected the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, which invalidated China’s claim of sovereignty over most of the South China Sea.
Photo: Reuters
However, the presence of Philippine boats dotted between Chinese vessels shows a degree of compliance with the ruling.
Overtures from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is negotiating billions of US dollars worth of loans, investments and trade deals with China, might have helped.
China stopped repelling Philippine boats in October last year and allowed them to fish on the edges of the rocky outcrop, 200km from the Philippines. Now it appears to be easing restrictions further.
Reuters journalists last week entered the shoal, and witnessed dozens of small boats shuttling day and night into the lagoon to capitalize on its rich fish stocks.
“It’s good that we’re now allowed inside, it helps me to support my family’s needs,” said Vicente Palawan, treading water inside the lagoon, a dive mask on his head and fishing spear in hand. “I don’t want the Chinese here, because there’s so many, it’s affecting the way we fish ... but I’m willing to share, I don’t want to be thrown out. At least I can fish.”
The coral outcrop is synonymous with the struggle for regional power and a strategic tinder box. Along with China and the Philippines, the shoal is claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
Despite its concessions, China’s presence there is growing, with a larger contingent of coast guard and fishing boats than was indicated in satellite imagery late last year.
That fuels concerns by Manila that Beijing might have ambitions for the shoal similar to the artificial islands it built and fortified in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) — which Taiwan also claims — inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
For now, there is a cordial coexistence between the Filipinos and Chinese who anchor side by side less than 100m from the 46km triangle of rock that barely pokes above the water.
Chinese zig-zag from boat to boat, using hand signals to barter with Filipinos for cigarettes, liquor and fish.
Small boats hum as they move in and out of the lagoon, through a buffering line of coral that has for centuries provided fishermen with bountiful catches and haven from storms.
In crowded boats, Filipinos are outnumbered about 10-to-one and complain of competition from the beefed-up Chinese contingent.
“We used to fish for a few days, now it’s a few weeks, but at least we have something,” said Ramil Rosal, a boat captain and fisherman for 20 years. “China is fishing more and Filipinos have to share with them, but they don’t bother us. Some are helpful.”
A half-dozen vessels from the China Marine Surveillance enforce their rules in an area the arbitration court declared a traditional fishing site for all countries.
It did not rule on sovereignty of the shoal.
Philippine Minister of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo said the improved access was “certainly in line with the arbitral ruling.”
Fishermen told reporters that the Chinese Coast Guard prohibited larger vessels from entering the lagoon, but allowed small two-men boats to fish there freely.
“It applies to Chinese and Filipinos,” Rosal said.
Coast guard in high-powered dinghies were sometimes dispatched from large vessels to take a closer look as unfamiliar boats arrived in the area.
Three coast guard ships were of the kind Manila last year said were capable of dredging. One was permanently inside the shoal, but it was unclear what it was doing.
The coast guard collaborates with Chinese fishermen, shown when reporters pulled up alongside a Chinese boat.
A crewman dashed to fetch a hand-held radio and photographed the journalists. Moments later, a coast guard vessel changed course and moved at speed toward the area, but turned back after a brief chase.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to questions about the shoal.
Filipino fishermen said Vietnamese were also fishing at the shoal, a sign that Hanoi could be testing the new arrangement.
However, reporters saw no Vietnamese boats and two Vietnamese fishing organizations said they were unaware any had gone to the shoal.
The Vietnamese government did not respond.
While the situation at the shoal is improved, tensions remain high.
Reports last month that China plans to build an environmental monitoring station at the shoal sparked consternation in the Philippines.
Duterte said he could not stop China, but had been assured of no construction “out of respect for our friendship.”
Last week, Duterte ordered the upgrade of facilities on the nine reefs and islands the Philippines occupies in the South China Sea, alarming both China and Vietnam.
For now, Filipinos are making the best of the detente. Some stay at the shoal for months.
Fishermen jostle for space on the overloaded bamboo outriggers of boats, transferring baskets of fish to a vessel making a run back to the Philippines.
Captain Renato Etac, 37, chain smokes as he weighs the fish and meticulously logs details of each delivery.
Though fish stocks are declining, the shoal is a “fiesta” for Filipinos, he said.
He even takes a positive view of China’s coast guard.
“If they’re not here, Scarborough becomes open to all, including illegal fishing,” he said. “It somehow acts as deterrent.”
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