(Photo: by MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/AFP via Getty Images) Sailors stand on the deck of a Philippines navy ship as it participates in a naval parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of China's PLA Navy in the sea near Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province, on April 23, 2019.
Amid rising tensions between the two nations over lucrative fishing grounds, China's coast guard asserted on Tuesday that it had chased a Philippine naval ship away from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
The Scarborough Shoal, also known as Huangyan Island in China, is where the Philippine ship entered the waters, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Gan Yu, and it disobeyed "multiple calls" to turn back, as reported by The Associated Press.
Propaganda From the Chinese?
Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the chief of staff of the Philippine military, stated in Manila that investigators were still looking into the reported event but believed it was more likely "propaganda from the Chinese" than an actual altercation.
Just west of Luzon Island, the Philippines' largest island, is where the Scarborough Shoal is located within its exclusive economic zone. In an effort to assert its claim to nearly the whole South China Sea, China has been occupying it since 2012. This has led to disagreements with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.
The conflicts have long been seen as a possible flashpoint in Asia and a delicate fault line in the rivalry between China and the United States there.
There are no claims made by Washington alone, but U.S., for many years, naval ships and fighter jets have conducted patrols to oppose China's sweeping assertions and advance freedom of navigation in the vital waterway.
A 300-meter (980-foot) long floating barrier was installed last month by China's coast guard to block the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal lagoon and keep Filipino boats out.
A few days later, the Philippine Coast Guard secretly removed the barrier on orders from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., angering China.
Read also: Philippines: Foreign Vessel Kills 3 Filipino Fishers-Is It A Chinese Boat? PCG Reveals Details
China Says It's Legal to Chase Away the Philippine Ship
Insisting that "China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island and its adjacent waters," Gan, the spokesman for the Chinese Coast Guard, said that Tuesday's action to chase away the Philippine ship was "legitimate and legal."
The Philippines has increased attempts to counter China's increasingly assertive activities under Marcos, who assumed power last year.
After the barrier incident, Philippine military commanders expressed fear that the Chinese Coast Guard would try to erect a comparable floating roadblock near the entrance to the Second Thomas Shoal. A small Philippine navy contingent is present there on a long-grounded cruiser, but Chinese Coast Guard vessels have encircled the location, which is several hundred kilometers (miles) southwest of the Scarborough Shoal.
A Philippine patrol ship and a Chinese coast guard ship came dangerously close to colliding last week off the Second Thomas Shoal, drawing stern condemnation from Manila.
Related article: Philippines Vows to Remove Floating Barriers in the Future
