As a Philippine Coast Guard plane carrying journalists flew over the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the South China Sea, a Chinese voice issued a command over the radio: “Leave immediately.”
The order came from a radio operator on a Chinese Coast Guard vessel 1,066m below — one of dozens of ships seen in the area.
Agence France-Presse was one of several media firms given an opportunity on Thursday to fly over some of the dozens of tiny islands and reefs where Taiwan, the Philippines, China and other nations have claims.
Photo: Reuters
To assert its claims, hundreds of Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels patrol the waters, swarming reefs, and harassing and attacking fishing and other boats.
They also try expel planes that are not Chinese from the airspace overhead.
“You have entered [waters around] a Chinese reef and constituted a security threat,” the Chinese radio operator said, in one of seven messages issued in Chinese and English as the plane flew over a Philippine-occupied island and shoal. “To avoid misunderstanding, leave immediately.”
Photo: AFP
The pilot responded that they were flying within Philippine territory.
During the four-hour flight in the Cessna Caravan, Philippine Coast Guard personnel identified nearly 20 Chinese vessels, including suspected maritime militia boats, in waters around some of the nine islands and reefs occupied by the Philippines.
Seventeen Chinese maritime militia boats were also spotted by the Philippine Coast Guard near Sabina Shoal (Sianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗吵), which is claimed by Manila.
Photo: AFP
Fifteen Chinese maritime militia boats were seen in the vicinity of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) — the largest Philippine-occupied island — which lies about 430km from the major Philippine island of Palawan.
A Chinese navy ship was 15km from Thitu, while a Chinese Coast Guard vessel was half that distance away, according to estimates provided by the Philippine Coast Guard.
At Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙), where Philippine marines are stationed in a derelict navy ship grounded to assert Manila’s territorial claim in the waters, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel was about 11km away, the Philippine authorities said.
Last month, a Chinese Coast Guard boat was nearly 20km from Second Thomas Shoal when it allegedly used a military-grade laser light against a Philippine patrol boat.
That was the latest major maritime incident between the Philippines and China. It sparked a fresh diplomatic row and prompted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to confront the Chinese ambassador to Manila.
Marcos has said that he would not let China trample on the Philippines’ maritime rights.
Manila’s new strategy was to call out China’s “bullying behavior and aggressive actions,” Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, told a forum in the capital, Manila, on Wednesday.
Manila refers to waters immediately to its west as the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippine Coast Guard is regularly publishing information, including photographs and videos, about Chinese vessels in the waters around Philippine-occupied features.
This helps inform the public and enables other countries to criticize China over its activities, Tarriela said.
And it forces Beijing “to come out in the open to explain or to completely lie,” he said.
Less than two months ago, the first music video by South Korean girl quartet MAVE: went viral, racking up nearly 20 million views on YouTube and setting the stage for potential global success. At first glance, MAVE: looks like any other idolized K-pop band — except it only exists virtually. Its four members — Siu, Zena, Tyra and Marty — live in the metaverse, their songs, dances, interviews and even their hairstyles created by Web designers and artificial intelligence. “When I first saw MAVE:, it was a little confusing to tell whether they were humans or virtual characters,” said Han Su-min, a 19-year-old
Philippine vlogger Rosanel Demasudlay holds a heart-shaped “virginity soap” bar in front of the camera and assures her hundreds of YouTube followers that it can be safely used to “tighten” their vaginas. The video is part of a barrage of bogus and harmful medical posts on social media platforms where Filipinos rank among the world’s heaviest users. Even before COVID-19 pandemic restrictions confined people to their homes and left them fearful of seeing a doctor, many in the Philippines sought remedies online because they were cheaper and easier to access. During the pandemic, the Agence France-Presse’s (AFP) Fact Check team saw an explosion
‘JAW-DROPPING MOMENT’: Michelle Yeoh in her Oscars speech dedicated her award to her mother and said ‘all the moms in the world’ were the real superheroes Michelle Yeoh’s mother cried for joy for her “little princess” when the Malaysian performer became the first Asian to win the best actress Oscar. Yeoh’s family and two Malaysian Cabinet ministers were among the supporters roaring with joy at Yeoh’s win during a special Academy Awards viewing party in Malaysia on Monday morning. Her trophy for her performance as a laundromat owner was one of seven Oscars for Everything Everywhere All at Once, including best picture. Janet Yeoh, 84, praised the actor as intelligent and hardworking, and a filial daughter. “I so love my daughter and she has made Malaysia proud,” Janet Yeoh
BACKING THE APPLICATION: Ankara’s move is expected to enable Helsinki to join the alliance, while the Turkish president is still opposed to backing Sweden’s application Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday ended months of diplomatically charged delays and asked the Turkish parliament to back Finland’s bid to join NATO. A simultaneous decision by fellow holdout Hungary to schedule a Finnish ratification vote for March 27 means the US-led defense alliance would likely grow to 31 nations within a few months. NATO’s expansion into a country with a 1,340km border with Russia would double the length of the bloc’s frontier with its Cold War-era foe. Finland had initially aimed to join together with fellow NATO aspirant Sweden, which is facing a litany of disputes with Turkey that
RSS