Philippines sends protest note vs China after clashes near Escoda Shoal ---- Cristina Chi - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has sent a note verbale to Beijing following repeated collisions between both countries’ vessels near Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. The protest note is the 43rd note verbale the Philippines has issued against China, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in a report by GMA’s "Unang Balita" on Thursday, September 5. This comes after the Chinese Coast Guard last week was accused of deliberately and repeatedly ramming Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) ship, BRP Teresa Magbanua, which has been anchored at Escoda Shoal since April to thwart Chinese reclamation activities there. The incident punched a man-sized hole in the vessel. No crew was injured. At least two other collisions involving Chinese vessels have taken place since August within or near the vicinity of Escoda Shoal — a feature 75 nautical miles from Palawan and deep within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. On August 25, Chinese Coast Guard vessels blasted a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ship carrying supplies for Filipino fishers with water cannons around 10 nautical miles from Escoda Shoal. Before this, on August 19, two PCG vessels sustained structural damages after being reportedly hit by Chinese Coast Guard vessels. Both incidents took place some 20 nautical miles from Escoda Shoal while the vessels were delivering supplies to the Patag and Lawak Islands. These altercations near Escoda Shoal, regarded as the new flashpoint between the Philippines and China amid their maritime dispute, follows Beijing’s issuance of a diplomatic protest against the presence of BRP Teresa Magbanua in August. Beijing claims the vessel is “illegally stranded” on the shoal, while the Philippines maintains that it has sovereign rights over the waters. In July, the Philippines and China struck a provisional arrangement aimed at de-escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea, particularly during Philippine troops’ resupply missions to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal. Maritime experts believe this deal is limited only to maritime interactions near Ayungin Shoal and could be the impetus for China to step up its presence in other parts of the contested waters. China considers almost the entire South China Sea, including waters referred to by the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea, to be its territorial waters. The Philippines filed a case against China in 2013, and three years later, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of Manila, declaring China's extensive claims had no legal basis.

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