CHINA/PHILIPPINES – A territorial row between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea has turned increasingly violent, with the two sides trading allegations of intentional boat rammings, and Manila accusing Chinese coastguard personnel of using water cannon against its troops and engaging in fist fights with spears and knives. In August alone, the two countries reported six confrontations in the air and at sea in the contested waterway.

Five of them took place at or near Scarborough Shoal and the Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands, an area that is within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile (about 370 kilometres) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) but where China claims sovereignty. The confrontations have taken place despite renewed efforts by Beijing and Manila to better manage their maritime dispute following a violent fight in June in which a Filipino sailor lost a finger.

China claims the Philippines is to blame for the confrontations, accusing Filipino troops of “illegally” intruding into its territory. In September, it said its ties with the Philippines were “at a crossroads” and urged Manila to “seriously consider the future” of their relationship.

The escalating tensions have threatened to draw in the United States, which has a mutual defence treaty with the Philippines and has promised to come to Manila’s aid in the case of any armed third-party attacks against Filipino troops. These include on coastguard personnel, aircraft or public vessels “anywhere” in the South China Sea.

 China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, via a vague, U-shaped nine-dash-line that overlaps with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. EEZs are areas of the ocean, extending 200 nautical miles beyond a nation’s shore, where that state has the right to explore and exploit resources.

In the northern parts of the South China Sea, China, Taiwan and Vietnam claim sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, although Beijing has controlled them since 1974. In the southern areas, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim all of the approximately 200 Spratly Islands, while Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines claim some of them.  (Aljazeera)

Photo: Two Chinese coastguard ships seen from the bow of a Philippine vessel at Sabina Shoal. (Aljazeera) …[+]