China confirms that they are no longer driving away Filipino fishermen from the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing that “proper arrangements” had been made by the Chinese government after President Rodrigo Duterte brought up his concern on the Filipinos’ access to the shoal.
The spokeswoman said that this arrangement has been done “based on the friendship between China and the Philippines.”
It has been reported that since last week, Filipino fishermen has been returning from the shoal with plenty of catch.
Despite these reports, a think tank said that based on latest satellite imagery, China is still blocking access to the lagoon.
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In an October 29 satellite imagery showed by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, it was seen that a China Coast Guard was anchored at the mouth of the lagoon “where it has been for most of the period since China seized the shoal in 2012, apparently blocking access.”
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. announced that aside from coast guard ships, any other Chinese naval ships are no longer around the shoal. He also said that despite this arrangement, the Philippines will still assert its sovereignty over the disputed area.
However, AMTI continued to say that the current situation in Scarborough Shoal is simply a relaxed version of “the stricter blockade of the reef that they put in place following the July 12 arbitral ruling.”
It is only “a return to the status quo that has existed for much of the last four years, not the pre-2012 status quo in which Philippine fishermen regularly entered Scarborough Shoal,” according to AMTI.
“At many point over the last four years, Filipino fishermen have been able to approach the outside of the shoal, but always at the forbearance of the CCG,” they added.
AMTI presented more satellite images taken in September that supported the Filipino fishermen’s complaints “that it was becoming more, not less, difficult for them to approach Scarborough.”
The think tank also noted that there has been an increase in CCG and civilian ships around the shoal since early September, “hitting levels not seen in satellite imagery since early 2014.”
AMTI further added that ever since China claimed and driven out fishermen from Scarborough shoal in 2012, Filipino fishermen had been unable to access the waters within its lagoon which was the very thing that President Duterte announced after his trip to China last October 18 to 21.
“We’ll just wait for a few more days. We may be able to return to Scarborough Shoal,” the President said after his state visit to China.
Source: (philstar.com, news.abs-cbn.com)
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