Filipino fisherman back in disputed South China Sea shoal after Duterte’s Beijing pivot
It’s unclear how long China would keep the shoal open to Filipinos or if there were any conditions attached
Philippine aerial surveillance showed Chinese coast guard ships were still guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, but they allowed Filipinos to fish “unmolested” for the first time in years, the defence secretary said Sunday.
“Fly-bys of our planes reported Chinese coast guard ships are still there but our fishermen were fishing unmolested,” Lorenzana said.
It’s unclear how long China would keep the shoal open to Filipinos or if there were any conditions attached.
Duterte made clear that the dispute over the shoal, which the Philippines calls Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag and Chinese refer to as Huangyan Island, was far from over. He said he insisted in his talks with Chinese leaders that the shoal belonged to the Philippines, but that the Chinese also asserted their claim of ownership.
The new development brought joy to the first Filipinos who ventured back to Scarborough in flotillas of small fishing boats.
“We’re happy that we were able to sail back there,” said Gil Bauya, who returned Saturday with a huge catch of red snappers and other fish to Cato village in the northwestern province of Pangasinan.
“They just let us fish,” Bauya said, referring to three Chinese coast guard ships fishermen saw at the shoal from a distance.
“We were waiting what they would do, but they didn’t do anything like deploying small rubber boats to chase us like they used to do.”
After three days of fishing, Bauya said they ran out of ice to preserve their catch and had to sail back home for the All Souls’ Day holiday. Amid the festive air in Cato, where villagers helped them unload their bumper catch, Bauya said he and his crewmen plan to travel back to Scarborough in the coming week.
Deputy US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Beijing on Saturday that China’s withdrawal from Scarborough Shoal would be welcomed by Washington.