BEIJING — China’s coast guard took necessary measures in accordance with law to block and drive away a Philippine vessel in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the comments after the Philippines on Sunday accused China of installing a “floating barrier” in part of the Scarborough Shoal, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area.
China claims 90% of the South China Sea, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. Beijing seized the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and forced fishermen from the Philippines to travel further for smaller catches.
The Philippines will take “all appropriate actions to cause the removal of barriers” in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the country’s national security advisor said on Monday.
“We condemn the installation of floating barriers by Chinese coast guard,” National Security Adviser Eduardo M. Año said in a statement.
“The placement by the People’s Republic of China of a barrier violates the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen,” he added.
The Philippines’ foreign ministry said that the barriers were a violation of international law and that the country would “take all appropriate measures to protect our country’s sovereignty and the livelihood of our fisherfolk.”
“We have to be very careful (not to commit) any diplomatic misstep,” Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, said in a radio interview on Monday before the government’s comments, when asked whether the coast guard was planning to remove the barrier.
Mr. Tarriela said that according to some Filipino fishermen, the Chinese coast guard usually installs such barriers when they monitor a large number of fishermen in the area, then remove it later. — Reuters