The US expressed concern about the presence of more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels near a disputed reef in the South China Sea, saying Beijing “uses maritime militias to intimidate, provoke and threaten other countries”.
Chinese boats “have been mooring in this area in increasing numbers for many months, regardless of the weather,” the US embassy in the Philippines said in a statement. China earlier said that the ships were sheltering from the wind near the Whitsun Reef.
“We stand behind the Philippines, our oldest member of the treaty in Asia,” said the US Embassy. Manila has lodged a diplomatic protest against China, calling on the Chinese ships to immediately depart from what it considers part of its exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese ships “are blatantly infringing on Philippine sovereignty,” and the nation is demanding that China “order its fishing vessels to refrain from environmentally damaging activities,” the Philippine State Department said in a separate statement on Tuesday.
The incident comes in the midst of a continuation tensions between the US and China, and while the Philippines is building friendly ties with Beijing under President Rodrigo Duterte maintaining its alliance with Washington.
Duterte will discuss the incident with the Chinese envoy in Manila, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Tuesday, reiterating that the two nations can work things out as friends. More than 180 ships were still near the reef, the Philippine military said after a patrol in the area on Monday.
Adds Philippine State Department statement in fourth paragraph