Military: Philippines accuses China of "aggressive tactics".

Tensions in the dispute over a strategically important sea area rich in raw materials between China and the Philippines persist. More than 100 Chinese ships have been in the South China Sea in the past week, blocking patrol boats of the Philippine Coast Guard and carrying out “dangerous manoeuvres”, the island state’s coast protection said on Friday.

For example, on April 21, a Chinese naval ship near the island of Pagasa – also called Thitu – asked boats of the Philippine Coast Guard to leave the area. The island is halfway between the Philippines and Vietnam and is also claimed by China. A spokesman for the Philippine coast guard said that Beijing’s naval ship had threatened that failure to comply “could cause a problem”. However, their ships would not have bowed to this and instead made clear their claim to be in the area and asked China’s navy to give way immediately.

Two days later, Chinese Coast Guard ships encountered two Philippine coastal defense ships using “aggressive tactics”. The incident happened near Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef belonging to the Spratly Islands.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has built artificial islands to support its claims. This particularly affects strategically important and resource-rich areas, which countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines claim for themselves. The United States and China’s neighbors accuse Beijing of increasing militarization of the region. The International Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Chinese territorial claims in 2016, which China, however, ignores.